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IMPORTANCE Whether the severity and mortality of COVID-19 in patients with cancer have improved in terms of disease management and capacity is yet to be defined. OBJECTIVE To test whether severity and mortality from COVID-19 among patients with cancer have improved during the course of the pandemic. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS OnCovid is a European registry that collects data on consecutive patients with solid or hematologic cancer and COVID-19. This multicenter case series study included real-world data from 35 institutions across 6 countries (UK, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany). This update included patients diagnosed between February 27, 2020, and February, 14, 2021. Inclusion criteria were confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and a history of solid or hematologic cancer. EXPOSURES SARS-CoV-2 infection. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Deaths were differentiated at 14 days and 3 months as the 2 landmark end points. Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared by stratifying patients across 5 phases (February to March 2020, April to June 2020, July to September 2020, October to December 2020, and January to February 2021) and across 2 major outbreaks (February to June 2020 and July 2020 to February 2021). RESULTS At data cutoff, 2795 consecutive patients were included, with 2634 patients eligible for analysis (median [IQR] age, 68 [18-77] years ; 52.8% men). Eligible patients demonstrated significant time-dependent improvement in 14-day case-fatality rate (CFR) with estimates of 29.8% (95% CI, 0.26-0.33) for February to March 2020; 20.3% (95% CI, 0.17-0.23) for April to June 2020;12.5% (95% Cl, 0.06-22.90) for July to September 2020; 17.2% (95% CI, 0.15-0.21) for October to December 2020; and 14.5% (95% CI, 0.09-0.21) for January to February 2021(all P < .001) across the predefined phases. Compared with the second major outbreak, patients diagnosed in the first outbreak were more likely to be 65 years or older (974 of 1626 [60.3%] vs 564 of 1008 [56.1%]; P = .03), have at least 2 comorbidities (793 of 1626 [48.8%) vs 427 of 1008 [42.4%); P = .001), and have advanced tumors (708 of 1626 [46.4%) vs 536 of 1008 [56.1%]: P < .001). Complications of COVID-19 were more likely to be seen (738 of 1626 [45.4%) vs 342 of 1008 [33.9%]; P < .001) and require hospitalization (969 of 1626 [59.8%) vs 418 of 1008 [42.1%); P < .001) and anti-COVID-19 therapy (1004 of 1626 [61.7%) vs 501of 1008 [49.7%); P < .001) during the first major outbreak. The 14-day CFRs for the first and second major outbreaks were 25.6% (95% CI, 0.23-0.28) vs 16.2% (95% CI, 0.13-0.19; P < .001), respectively. After adjusting for country, sex, age, comorbidities, tumor stage and status, anti-COVID-19 and anticancer therapy, and COVID-19 complications, patients diagnosed in the first outbreak had an increased risk of death at 14 days (hazard ratio [HR], 1.85; 95% CI, 1.47-2.32) and 3 months (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.08-1.51) compared with those diagnosed in the second outbreak. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The findings of this registry-based study suggest that mortality in patients with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19 has improved in Europe; this improvement may be associated with earlier diagnosis, improved management, and dynamic changes in community transmission over time.

We sought to determine parameters of the acute phase response, a feature of innate immunity activated by infectious noxae and cancer, deranged by Covid-19 and establish oncological indices’ prognostic potential for patients with concomitant cancer and Covid-19. Between 27/02 and 23/06/2020, OnCovid retrospectively accrued 1,318 consecutive referrals of patients with cancer and Covid-19 aged 18 from the U.K., Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Germany. Patients with myeloma, leukemia, or insufficient data were excluded. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), and prognostic index (PI) were evaluated for their prognostic potential, with the NLR, PLR, and PNI risk stratifications dichotomized around median values and the pre-established risk categorizations from literature utilized for the mGPS and PI. 1,071 eligible patients were randomly assorted into a training set (TS, n=529) and validation set (VS, n=542) matched for age (67.9±13.3 TS, 68.5±13.5 VS), presence of 1 comorbidity (52.1% TS, 49.8% VS), development of 1 Covid-19 complication (27% TS, 25.9% VS), and active malignancy at Covid-19 diagnosis (66.7% TS, 61.6% VS). Among all 1,071 patients, deceased patients tended to categorize into poor risk groups for the NLR, PNI, mGPS, and PI (P6 (44.6% vs 28%, P6 30 days 95%CI 1-63, PNI Citation Format: Gino M. Dettorre, Saoirse Dolly, Angela Loizidou, John Chester, Amanda Jackson, Uma Mukherjee, Alberto Zambelli, Juan Aguilar-Company, Mark Bower, Christopher C. T. Sng, Ramon Salazar, Alexia Bertuzzi, Joan Brunet, Ricard Mesia, Ailsa Sita-Lumsden, Elia Seguí, Federica Biello, Daniele Generali, Salvatore Grisanti, Pavetha Seeva, Gianpiero Rizzo, Michela Libertini, Antonio Maconi, Charlotte Moss, Beth Russell, Josep Tabernero, Nadia Harbeck, Bruno Vincenzi, Rossella Bertulli, Diego Ottaviani, Andrea Marrari, M. Carmen Carmona-García, Neha Chopra, Carlo Tondini, Oriol Mirallas, Valeria Tovazzi, Vittoria Fotia, Claudia A. Cruz, Nadia Saoudi-Gonzalez, Eudald Felip, Lorenza Scotti, Alvin J. X. Lee, Thomas Newsom-Davis, Andrea Patriarca, Lorenza Rimassa, Armando Santoro, Alessandra Gennari, Mieke Van Hemelrijck, Nikolaos Diamantis, David J. Pinato. The acute phase response identifies cancer patients with adverse outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection as quantified by the OnCovid Inflammatory Score [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2021 Feb 3-5. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(6_Suppl):Abstract nr S01-03.

Oncolytic virotherapies (OV) hold immense clinical potential. OV based on human adenoviruses (HAdV) derived from HAdV with naturally low rates of pre- existing immunity will be beneficial for future clinical translation. We generated a low- seroprevalence HAdV-D10 serotype vector incorporating an αvβ6 integrin-selective peptide, A20, to target αvβ6-positive tumor cell types. HAdV-D10 has limited natural tropism. Structural and biological studies of HAdV-D10 knob protein highlighted low-affinity engagement with native adenoviral receptors CAR and sialic acid. HAdV-D10 fails to engage blood coagulation factor X, potentially eliminating “off-target” hepatic sequestration in vivo. We engineered an A20 peptide that selectively binds αvβ6 integrin into the DG loop of HAdV-D10 fiber knob. Assays in αvβ6+ cancer cell lines demonstrated significantly increased transduction mediated by αvβ6-targeted variants compared with controls, confirmed microscopically. HAdV-D10.A20 resisted neutralization by neutralizing HAdV-C5 sera. Systemic delivery of HAdV-D10.A20 resulted in significantly increased GFP expression in BT20 tumors. Replication-competent HAdV-D10.A20 demonstrated αvβ6 integrin-selective cell killing in vitro and in vivo. HAdV-D10 possesses characteristics of a promising virotherapy, combining low seroprevalence, weak receptor interactions, and reduced off-target uptake. Incorporation of an αvβ6 integrin-selective peptide resulted in HAdV-D10.A20, with significant potential for clinical translation.

We previously developed a refined, tumor-selective adenovirus, Ad5NULL-A20, harboring tropism ablating mutations in each major capsid protein, to ablate all native means of infection. We incorporated a 20-mer peptide (A20) in the fiber knob for selective infection via αvβ6 integrin, a marker of aggressive epithelial cancers. Methods: To ascertain the selectivity of Ad5NULL-A20 for αvβ6-positive tumor cell lines of pancreatic and breast cancer origin, we performed reporter gene and cell viability assays. Biodistribution of viral vectors in mice harboring xenografts with low, medium, and high αvβ6 levels was quantified by qPCR for viral genomes 48 h post intravenous administration. Results: Ad5NULL-A20 vector transduced cells in an αvβ6-selective manner, whilst cell killing mediated by oncolytic Ad5NULL-A20 was αvβ6-selective. Biodistribution analysis following intravenous administration into mice bearing breast cancer xenografts demonstrated that Ad5NULL-A20 resulted in significantly reduced liver accumulation coupled with increased tumor accumulation compared to Ad5 in all three models, with tumor-to-liver ratios improved as a function of αvβ6 expression. Conclusions: Ad5NULL-A20-based virotherapies efficiently target αvβ6-integrin-positive tumors following intravenous administration, validating the potential of Ad5NULL-A20 for systemic applications, enabling tumor-selective overexpression of virally encoded therapeutic transgenes.

Background: We previously developed a refined, tumor selective adenovirus, Ad5NULL-A20, har-boring tropism ablating mutations in each major capsid protein, to ablate all native means of infection. We incorporated a 20mer peptide (A20) in the fiber knob for selective infection via αvβ6 integrin, a marker of aggressive epithelial cancers. Methods: To ascertain the selectivity of Ad5NULL-A20 for αvβ6 positive tumor cell lines of pancreatic and breast cancer origin, we performed reporter gene and cell viability assays. Biodistribution of viral vectors in mice harboring xenografts with low, medium, and high αvβ6 levels was quantified by qPCR for viral genomes 48 hours post intravenous administration. Results: Ad5NULL-A20 vector transduced cells in an αvβ6 selective manner, whilst cell killing me-diated by oncolytic Ad5NULL-A20 was αvβ6 selective. Biodistribution analysis following intrave-nous administration into mice bearing breast cancer xenografts demonstrated that Ad5NULL-A20 resulted in significantly reduced liver accumulation coupled with increased tumor accumulation compared to Ad5 in all three models, with tumor: liver ratios improved as a function of αvβ6 expression. Conclusions: Ad5NULL-A20 based virotherapies efficiently target αvβ6 integrin positive tumors following intravenous administration, validating the potential of Ad5NULL-A20 for systemic ap-plications, enabling tumor selective overexpression of virally encoded therapeutic transgenes.

Background: Despite high contagiousness and rapid spread, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to heterogeneous outcomes across affected nations. Within Europe (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) is the most severely affected country, with a death toll in excess of 100,000 as of January 2021. We aimed to compare the national impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the risk of death in UK patients with cancer versus those in continental EU. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the OnCovid study database, a European registry of patients with cancer consecutively diagnosed with COVID-19 in 27 centres from 27th February to 10th September 2020. We analysed case fatality rates and risk of death at 30 days and 6 months stratified by region of origin (UK versus EU). We compared patient characteristics at baseline including oncological and COVID-19-specific therapy across UKand EU cohorts and evaluated the association of these factors with the risk of adverse out-comes in multivariable Cox regression models Findings: Compared with EU (n = 924), UK patients (n = 468) were characterised by higher case fatality rates (40.38% versus 26.5%, p < 0.0001) and higher risk of death at 30 days (haz-ard ratio [HR], 1.64 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.36-1.99]) and 6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis (47.64% versus 33.33%; p < 0.0001; HR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.33-1.88]). UK patients were more often men, were of older age and have more comorbidities than EU counterparts (p < 0.01). Receipt of anticancer therapy was lower in UK than in EU patients (p < 0.001). Despite equal proportions of complicated COVID-19, rates of intensive care admission and use of mechanical ventilation, UK patients with cancer were less likely to receive anti-COVID-19 therapies including corticosteroids, antivirals and inter leukin-6 antagonists (p < 0.0001). Multivariable analyses adjusted for imbalanced prognostic factors confirmed the UK cohort to be characterised by worse risk of death at 30 days and 6 months, indepen-dent of the patient's age, gender, tumour stage and status; number of comorbidities; COVID-19 severity and receipt of anticancer and anti-COVID-19 therapy. Rates of permanent cessa-tion of anticancer therapy after COVID-19 were similar in the UK and EU cohorts. Interpretation: UK patients with cancer have been more severely impacted by the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic despite societal risk mitigation factors and rapid deferral of anti-cancer therapy. The increased frailty of UK patients with cancer highlights high-risk groups that should be prioritised for anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Continued evaluation of long-term outcomes is warranted. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purpose: Virotherapies are maturing in the clinical setting. Adenoviruses (Ad) are excellent vectors for the manipulability and tolerance of transgenes. Poor tumor selectivity, off-target sequestration, and immune inactivation hamper clinical efficacy. We sought to completely redesign Ad5 into a refined, tumor-selective virotherapy targeted to αvβ6 integrin, which is expressed in a range of aggressively transformed epithelial cancers but nondetectable in healthy tissues. Experimental Design: Ad5NULL-A20 harbors mutations in each major capsid protein to preclude uptake via all native pathways. Tumor-tropism via αvβ6 targeting was achieved by genetic insertion of A20 peptide (NAVPNLRGDLQVLAQKVART) within the fiber knob protein. The vector's selectivity in vitro and in vivo was assessed. Results: The tropism-ablating triple mutation completely blocked all native cell entry pathways of Ad5NULL-A20 via coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR), αvβ3/5 integrins, and coagulation factor 10 (FX). Ad5NULL-A20 efficiently and selectively transduced αvβ6+ cell lines and primary clinical ascites-derived EOC ex vivo, including in the presence of preexisting anti-Ad5 immunity. In vivo biodistribution of Ad5NULL-A20 following systemic delivery in non–tumor-bearing mice was significantly reduced in all off-target organs, including a remarkable 107-fold reduced genome accumulation in the liver compared with Ad5. Tumor uptake, transgene expression, and efficacy were confirmed in a peritoneal SKOV3 xenograft model of human EOC, where oncolytic Ad5NULL-A20–treated animals demonstrated significantly improved survival compared with those treated with oncolytic Ad5. Conclusions: Oncolytic Ad5NULL-A20 virotherapies represent an excellent vector for local and systemic targeting of αvβ6-overexpressing cancers and exciting platforms for tumor-selective overexpression of therapeutic anticancer modalities, including immune checkpoint inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res; 24(17); 4215–24. ©2018 AACR.

Oncolytic virotherapies (OV) based on human adenoviral (HAdV) vectors hold significant promise for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancers where local, intraperitoneal delivery to tumour metastases is feasible, bypassing many complexities associated with intravascular delivery. The efficacy of HAdV-C5-based OV is hampered by a lack of tumour selectivity, where the primary receptor, hCAR, is commonly downregulated during malignant transformation. Conversely, folate receptor alpha (FRα) is highly expressed on ovarian cancer cells, providing a compelling target for tumour selective delivery of virotherapies. Here, we identify high-affinity FRα-binding oligopeptides for genetic incorporation into HAdV-C5 vectors. Biopanning identified a 12-mer linear peptide, DWSSWVYRDPQT, and two 7-mer cysteine-constrained peptides, CIGNSNTLC and CTVRTSAEC that bound FRα in the context of the phage particle. Synthesised lead peptide, CTVRTSAEC, bound specifically to FRα and could be competitively inhibited with folic acid. To assess the capacity of the elucidated FRα-binding oligopeptides to target OV to FRα, we genetically incorporated the peptides into the HAdV-C5 fiber-knob HI loop including in vectors genetically ablated for hCAR interactions. Unfortunately, the recombinant vectors failed to efficiently target transduction via FRα due to defective intracellular trafficking following entry via FRα, indicating that whilst the peptides identified may have potential for applications for targeted drug delivery, they require additional refinement for targeted virotherapy applications.

455 Background: The POUT trial (CRUK/11/027; NCT01993979) previously reported (with median follow-up 30.3 months) that adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease free survival (DFS) for patients (pts) with histologically confirmed pT2-T4 N0-3 M0 UTUC. Here we present results of a pre-planned analysis updating the primary endpoint and reporting key secondary endpoints including overall survival. Methods: 261 pts with UTUC were enrolled following nephro-ureterectomy and randomised (1:1) to 4 cycles of gemcitabine-cisplatin (gemcitabine-carboplatin if GFR 30-49ml/min) or surveillance with subsequent chemotherapy if required. Pts had 6 monthly imaging and cystoscopy for 2 years, then annually to 5 years. Toxicity was assessed by CTCAE v4. Primary endpoint was DFS. Secondary endpoints included metastasis free survival (MFS), overall survival (OS), toxicity and patient reported quality of life (QoL). The trial closed to recruitment early on advice of the independent data monitoring committee due to evidence of efficacy. Time-to-event endpoints are analysed (intention-to-treat) by Cox proportional hazard models. Unadjusted and adjusted (by nodal status, planned chemotherapy type, microscopic margin status, pathological stage) hazard ratios (HR, < 1 favouring chemotherapy) are reported. Results: From May 2012 to Nov 2017, 261 pts were recruited (129 surveillance; 132 chemotherapy) at 56 UK centres. One participant withdrew consent for data usage and was excluded from analyses. Pts had median age 69 years (range 37-88), 28% pT2, 66% pT3; 91% pN0. To 09/09/2020, median follow up was 48.1 months (IQR: 36.0-60.1). The unadjusted/adjusted HR for DFS was 0.48 (95% CI: 0.33-0.71; p = 0.0003) / 0.50 (95%CI: 0.34-0.75; p = 0.001), and for MFS was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.35-0.77; p = 0.001) / 0.54 (95% CI: 0.36-0.81; p = 0.002). 93/260 (35.8%) pts have died (52/129 [40.3%] surveillance and 41/131 [31.3%] chemotherapy). Chemotherapy conferred a non-statistically significant 28% reduction in relative risk of death (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.47-1.08; p = 0.11; adjusted HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.52-1.19; p = 0.26). 3 year OS was surveillance: 67% (95% CI: 58-74%; chemotherapy: 79% (71%-85%). There was no evidence of long-term toxicity associated with chemotherapy (Wilcoxon rank-sum test p-value for worst grade post-6 months = 0.32). Most common grade 2+ adverse events were hypertension (25/240 [10.4%]), lethargy (25/240 [10.4%]) and hearing loss (13/240 [5.4%]). There was no evidence of statistically or clinically relevant differences in QoL. 12 months after treatment (EORTC Q30 global health status mean difference 4.1 and 4.8 at 12 and 24 months respectively in favour of chemotherapy). Conclusions: With additional follow-up, the previously reported DFS benefit for chemotherapy was maintained with no detrimental long-term toxicity. No statistically significant improvement in OS was observed. Clinical trial information: NCT01993979.

Malignant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) spheroids high frequently are detected in the malignant ascites of the patients with the extensive peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer, which represent a significant obstacle to efficacious treatment. Clinical data also suggested that EOC spheroids play a putative role in the development of chemoresistance. Since standard surgery and conventional chemotherapy is the only available treatment, there is an urgent need to identify a more effective therapeutic strategy. Recent studies demonstrated that curcumin exerts an anticancer effect in a variety of human cancers including ovarian cancer. This study evaluates anti-peritoneal metastasis and chemoresistance of curcumin related to the EOC spheroids. In this study, we confirm that the high invasive EOC cells forming the spheroids express a high level of a cancer stem cell (CSC) marker, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 (ALDH1A1), which was significantly down-regulated by curcumin treatment. Curcumin treatment markedly enhances the sensitivity of EOC spheroids to cisplatin in a dose-dependent manner. Our experiments provided evidence that curcumin could abolish the sphere-forming capacity of EOC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, curcumin substantially suppressed the growth of the pre-existed EOC spheroids, inhibited the adhesion of EOC spheroids to ECM as well as the invasion of EOC spheroids to the mesothelial monolayers. We propose to re-purpose curcumin as anti-metastatic and chemoresistant agent for EOC management in combination with conventional regimen. Further preclinical studies are necessary to validate the anti-cancer effect of curcumin in patients with EOC.

The evolving field of personalised medicine is playing an increasingly important role in cancer prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutics. Its importance in clinical management is demonstrated by the recent introduction into routine clinical practice of various individualised, molecularly targeted therapies with increased efficacy and/or reduced toxicity. The identification of cancer predisposition genes, such as the BRCA genes in breast cancer, permits screening programmes to identify patients “at-risk” of developing cancer and helps them make decisions on individual risk-modification behaviours. Personalised medicine also plays an increasingly important role in cancer treatment. It is increasingly clear that there are molecularly distinct subtypes of various common cancers, with different therapeutic approaches required for each subtype, for example, the use of the monoclonal antibodies (trastuzumab and cetuximab) in HER2-positive breast cancer and wild-type KRAS colorectal cancer; tyrosine kinase inhibitors (imatinib, gefitinib, erlotinib and crizotinib) in chronic myeloid leukaemia, gastrointestinal stromal tumours and non-small-cell lung cancer and intracellular agents (vemurafenib and olaparib) in metastatic malignant melanoma and ovarian, breast and prostate cancer. The efficacy of various targeted therapies in such disparate tumours suggests that we are entering an era in which treatment decisions will be based on tumour molecular abnormality profile or “signature,” rather than tumour tissue type or anatomical site of origin, improving patient prognosis and quality of life. This mini review focuses on the role of personalised medicine in cancer prevention and treatment as well as its future direction in oncology.

Purpose: Reovirus type 3 Dearing (RT3D) replicates preferentially in Ras-activated cancers. RT3D shows synergistic in vitro cytotoxicity in combination with platins and taxanes. The purpose of this phase I/II study was to assess RT3D combined with carboplatin/paclitaxel in patients with advanced cancers. Experimental Design: Patients were initially treated in a dose-escalating, phase I trial with intravenous RT3D days 1 to 5, carboplatin [area under curve (AUC) 5, day 1] and paclitaxel (175 mg/m2, day 1) 3-weekly. RT3D was escalated through three dose levels: 3 × 109, 1 × 1010, and 3 × 1010 TCID50 in cohorts of three. Primary endpoints were to define the maximum tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxicity and to recommend a dose for phase II studies. Secondary endpoints included pharmacokinetics, immune response, and antitumor activity. A subsequent phase II study using the 3 × 1010 TCID50 dose characterized the response rate in patients with head and neck cancer. Results: Thirty-one heavily pretreated patients received study therapy. There were no dose-limiting toxicities during dose-escalation and most toxicities were grade I/II. Overall effectiveness rates were as follows: one patient had a complete response (3.8%), six patients (23.1%) had partial response, two patients (7.6%) had major clinical responses clinically evaluated in radiation pretreated lesions which are not evaluable by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), nine patients (34.6%) had stable disease, and eight patients (30.8%) had disease progression. Viral shedding was minimal and antiviral immune responses were attenuated compared with previous single-agent data for RT3D. Conclusions: The combination of RT3D plus carboplatin/paclitaxel is well tolerated with evidence of activity in cancer of the head and neck. A randomized phase III study is currently open for recruitment. Clin Cancer Res; 18(7); 2080–9. ©2012 AACR.

We have previously reported that a burst of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling to tumor-associated endothelium induces a proviral state, during which systemically delivered oncolytic reovirus can replicate in endothelium, thereby inducing immune-mediated vascular collapse and significant antitumor therapy. Using chimeric receptors, we show here that induction of the proviral state proceeds through VEGFR2, but not VEGFR1, signaling in endothelial cells. In contrast, innate immune activation by reovirus-exposed endothelial cells was predominantly through VEGFR1. By screening conventional chemotherapies for their ability to induce similar effects in combination with reovirus both in vitro and in vivo, we observed that the proviral state could also be induced in endothelial cells exposed to VEGF during rebound from paclitaxel-mediated inhibition of VEGF signaling. We translated these in vitro findings in vivo by careful scheduling of paclitaxel chemotherapy with systemic virotherapy, neither of which alone had therapeutic effects against B16 tumors. Systemic availability of reovirus during endothelial cell recovery from paclitaxel treatment allowed for endothelial replication of the virus, immune-mediated therapy, and tumor cures. Therefore, careful scheduling of combination viro- and chemotherapies, which preclinical testing suggests are individually ineffective against tumor cells, can lead to rational new clinical protocols for systemic treatments with oncolytic viruses.

Hypoxia is an important factor in tumor growth. It is associated with resistance to conventional anticancer treatments. Gene therapy targeting hypoxic tumor cells therefore has the potential to enhance the efficacy of treatment of solid tumors. Transfection of a panel of tumor cell lines with plasmid constructs containing hypoxia-responsive promoter elements from the genes, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and erythropoietin, linked to the minimal cytomegalovirus (mCMV) or minimal interleukin-2 (mIL-2) promoters showed optimum hypoxia-inducible luciferase reporter gene expression with five repeats of VEGF hypoxic-response element linked to the mCMV promoter. Adenoviral vectors using this hypoxia-inducible promoter to drive therapeutic transgenes produced hypoxia-specific cell kill of HT1080 and HCT116 cells in the presence of prodrug with both herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir and nitroreductase (NTR)/CB1954 prodrug-activating systems. Significant cytotoxic effects were also observed in patient-derived human ovarian cancer cells. The NTR/CB1954 system provided more readily controllable transgene expression and so was used for in vivo experiments of human HCT116 xenografts in nude mice. Subjects treated intratumorally with Ad-VEGFmCMV-NTR and intraperitoneal injection of CB1954 demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in tumor growth. Immunohistochemistry of treated xenografts showed a good correlation between transgene expression and hypoxic areas. Further investigation of these hypoxia-inducible adenoviral vectors, alone or in combination with existing modalities of cancer therapy, may aid in the future development of successful Gene-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy systems, which are much needed for targeting solid tumors.

Oncolytic viruses consist of a diverse range of DNA and RNA viruses traditionally thought to mediate their effects by exploiting aberrations in tumor pathways, allowing preferential viral replication in, and killing of, tumor cells. Clinical development has progressed to late-phase trials, potentially heralding their introduction into clinical practice. However, despite this promise, the activity of oncolytic viruses has yet to achieve the potential suggested in preclinical models. To address this disparity, we need to recognize the complex interaction among oncolytic viruses, tumor, chemotherapy, and host immune system, and appreciate that direct oncolysis may not be the only factor to play an important role in oncolytic virus-mediated antitumor efficacy. Although key in inactivating viruses, the host immune system can also act as an ally against tumors, interacting with oncolytic viruses under the right conditions to generate useful and long-lasting antitumor immunity. Preclinical data also suggest that oncolytic viruses show synergy with standard therapies, which may offer improved clinical response rates. Here, we explore clinical and preclinical data on clinically relevant oncolytic viruses, highlighting areas of progress, uncertainty, and translational opportunity, with respect to immune recruitment and therapeutic synergy. Clin Cancer Res; 17(13); 4214–24. ©2011 AACR.

Background: Activating mutations of FGFR3 are frequently identified in superficial urothelial carcinoma (UC) and increased expression of FGFR1 and FGFR3 are common in both superficial and invasive UC. Methods: The effects of inhibition of receptor activity by three small molecule inhibitors (PD173074, TKI-258 and SU5402) were investigated in a panel of bladder tumour cell lines with known FGFR expression levels and FGFR3 mutation status. Results: All inhibitors prevented activation of FGFR3, and inhibited downstream MAPK pathway signalling. Response was related to FGFR3 and/or FGFR1 expression levels. Cell lines with the highest levels of FGFR expression showed the greatest response and little or no effect was measured in normal human urothelial cells or in UC cell lines with activating RAS gene mutations. In sensitive cell lines, the drugs induced cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis. IC50 values for PD173074 and TKI-258 were in the nanomolar concentration range compared with micromolar concentrations for SU5402. PD173074 showed the greatest effects in vitro and in vivo significantly delayed the growth of subcutaneous bladder tumour xenografts. Conclusion: These results indicate that inhibition of FGFR1 and wild-type or mutant FGFR3 may represent a useful therapeutic approach in patients with both non-muscle invasive and muscle invasive UC.

Clinical trials of oncolytic virotherapy have shown low toxicity and encouraging signs of efficacy. However, it remains critically important to develop methods for systemic viral delivery if such therapies are to be clinically implemented to treat established tumors. In this respect, much effort is being focused on combining oncolytic viruses with standard treatment modalities such as inhibitors of VEGF165 (an alternatively spliced isoform of VEGF-A) signaling, which are widely used to treat several different cancers. Here, we have demonstrated that combining VEGF165 inhibitors with systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses leads to substantial regression and cure of established tumors in immunocompetent mice. We have shown that manipulating VEGF165-mediated signaling by administering VEGF165 to mice harboring mouse melanoma cells that do not express VEGF165 and by administering a VEGF inhibitor and then withdrawing treatment to allow VEGF levels to rebound in mice harboring mouse melanoma cells expressing VEGF165 allows tumor-associated endothelial cells transiently to support viral replication. This approach led to direct tumor cell lysis and triggered innate immune–mediated attack on the tumor vasculature. It also resulted in long-term antitumor effects, even against tumors in which viral replication is poorly supported. Since this combinatorial approach targets the tumor endothelium, we believe these data have direct, wide-ranging, and immediate clinical applicability across a broad range of tumor types.

We have assessed the ability of bispecific fusion proteins to improve adenovirus-mediated transfer of therapeutic and marker transgenes. We constructed an expression vector that can be easily modified to synthesize a variety of fusion proteins for retargeting adenoviral gene therapy vectors to cell surface markers, which are differentially expressed between normal and cancer cells. Adenoviral transduction can be improved in a number of tumour cell lines which overexpress EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) or uPAR (urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor), but which have only low levels of endogenous hCAR (human coxsackie B and adenovirus receptor) expression. Up to 40-fold improvement in beta-galactosidase transgene expression was seen using an EGFR retargeting protein, and up to 16-fold using a second fusion protein targeting uPAR. In vitro, our uPAR retargeting fusion protein improved the sensitivity to adenoviral herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir by an order of magnitude, whereas in vivo, our EGFR retargeting protein is able to significantly delay tumour growth in rodent animal models in a dose-dependent manner. The 'cassette' design of our fusion protein constructs offers a flexible method for the straightforward synthesis of multiple adenoviral retargeting proteins, directed against a variety of tumour-associated antigens, for use in clinical trials.

We report a phase I/II clinical trial in prostate cancer (PCa) using direct intraprostatic injection of a replication defective adenovirus vector (CTL102) encoding bacterial nitroreductase (NTR) in conjunction with systemic prodrug CB1954. One group of patients with localized PCa scheduled for radical prostatectomy received virus alone, prior to surgery, in a dose escalation to establish safety, tolerability, and NTR expression. A second group with local failure following primary treatment received virus plus prodrug to establish safety and tolerability. Based on acceptable safety data and indications of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) responses, an extended cohort received virus at a single dose level plus prodrug. The vector was well tolerated with minimal side effects, had a short half-life in the circulation, and stimulated a robust antibody response. Immunohistochemistry of resected prostate demonstrated NTR staining in tumor and glandular epithelium at all dose levels [5 x 10(10)-1 x 10(12) virus particles (vp)]. A total of 19 patients received virus plus prodrug and 14 of these had a repeat treatment; minimal toxicity was observed and there was preliminary evidence of change in PSA kinetics, with an increase in the time to 10% PSA progression in 6 out of 18 patients at 6 months.

e14519 Background: Reolysin, a wild type reovirus (Dearing strain), replicates preferentially in Ras-activated cancer cells. Preclinical data have demonstrated synergistic tumor kill when reolysin is combined with standard chemotherapies including platinum agents and taxanes, justifying the clinical evaluation of this drug combination. Methods: Pts were initially treated in an open-label, dose-escalating, phase I trial and received iv reolysin, d1–5, iv carboplatin (AUC5), d1, and paclitaxel (175mg/m2), d1, qw3. Reolysin was administered at a starting dose of 3x109 TCID50 and then increased to 1x1010 and 3x1010 TCID50 in cohorts of 3 pts. Primary endpoints for the dose escalation trial were to determine the maximum tolerated dose, dose limiting toxicity (DLT) and to recommend a dose for phase II studies. Secondary endpoints were to evaluate pharmacokinetics, immune response and anti-tumour activity. The primary endpoint for the phase II expansion cohort in head and neck (H&N) pts is to characterize respon...

In the Association of Cancer Physicians’ (ACP’s) new strategy for medical oncology in the United Kingdom, we are taking a broad view of developments which will bring benefits to patients with cancer and identifying the contributions that we can make to achieving these goals. Our consultants and their teams have contributed substantially to improvements in cancer outcomes over the past 25 years. We are greatly encouraged that over 50% of UK cancer patients now survive their disease for 10 years or more. We are at a time not only of unprecedented acceleration of knowledge with regard to all aspects of cancer, but also of rapid change in terms of patient management and new therapies. To deliver better outcomes for patients, we must overcome challenges over the next decade, such as increased demand for cancer services and financial constraint in the NHS.\ud \ud The first version of the ACP strategy was published on 13 July 2015. This second version is prepared as an update to reflect the publication of the Report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce entitled ‘Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes. A Strategy for England 2015–2020’ [1]. We have also responded in this strategy to helpful meetings with the President and the Senior Officers of the Royal College of Physicians. These inputs, arising soon after the initial publication of our strategy, were felt by the ACP Executive to be of sufficient importance to justify bringing forward the annual update of our strategic document.

Background: gemcitabine (G) and cisplatin (C) is a standard-of-care, combination chemotherapy regimen for neoadjuvant treatment of muscle-invasive and palliative treatment of advanced bladder cancer (BC). More effective regimens are urgently needed, with no significant improvements on GC in more than a decade. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a rational target for BC therapy, as abnormalities are commonly seen in mTOR’s upstream activators/downstream effectors in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. We therefore performed a Phase Ib trial, combining escalating doses of the mTOR inhibitor, temsirolimus (T) with GC. Methods: following regulatory and ethical approvals, eligible patients with advanced malignancy were treated with one or more doses of intravenous (IV) T plus fixed doses of IV GC in a 21-day (d) cycle. Previous unpublished data suggest a possible interaction between G and T. We therefore pursued a cautious escalation strategy (see table), as a precaution against excessive toxicity. Results: 14 patients (3 BC, 2 lung, 2 ovarian, 7 other cancers; 7 previous platinum exposure) were treated, at 4 dose schedules in 2 UK centers. There were no treatment-related deaths or SUSARs. Of 14 SAEs, 4 were SARs, in 10 individuals, 7 of whom had received IMP. Addition of 10mg T on d15, then d8&15 was tolerated, but DLTs were encountered when administering three 10mg doses of T, both on d1,8&15 (neutropenia; hypokalaemia) and d2,9&15 (febrile neutropenia; rash). T was omitted because of myelosuppression on d15, cycle 1 in 6/8 patients scheduled to receive 3 doses of T. Conclusions: it has not been feasible to add three, weekly doses of T to GC, even at low T doses, in the patient group tested, because of predominantly hematological toxicity. We plan to amend the schedule to include two doses of T, on d2&9, informed by data from pre-planned PK analyses of patients already treated. ToTem was developed by the UK NCRI Bladder Cancer Clinical Studies Group, sponsored by Cardiff University, funded by Cancer Research UK, and supported by supply of free drug and distribution costs from Pfizer. Clinical trial information: 31546330.

Purpose: To assess the safety and toxicity profile of escalating doses of intravenous irinotecan, in combination with a fixed dose of oral ciclosporin (Cs) and to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of irinotecan and its metabolites. Patients and Methods: Patients with fluorouracil-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer received escalating doses of intravenous irinotecan from 40 to 125 mg/m2 every 2 weeks in combination with a fixed dose of oral Cs (5 mg/kg bid for 3 days). Pharmacokinetic analysis of plasma irinotecan and its metabolites SN38 and SN38G was performed during paired cycles with and without Cs. Results: Thirty-seven patients were treated. Dose-limiting toxicity of grade 4 neutropenia was seen at an irinotecan dose of 125 mg/m2. There was no grade 4 diarrhea, and only one patient experienced grade 3 diarrhea. Toxicities caused by Cs were generally mild. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that irinotecan clearance was reduced from 13.4 to 5.8 L/h/m2 and area under the curve (AUC)0-tn was increased 2.2-fold by the coadministration of Cs. Similar significant increases in AUC0-24h were seen for both SN38 and SN38G (2.2-fold and 2.3-fold, respectively) in the presence of Cs. Antitumor activity was seen at every irinotecan dose level. Conclusion: The maximum tolerated irinotecan dose and recommended dose for phase II studies is 100 mg/m2 every 2 weeks. Dose-limiting diarrhea was not seen during this study, supporting the hypothesis that pharmacokinetic modulation of irinotecan by Cs may improve its therapeutic index. Further studies using this combination are warranted.

The standard de Gramont (dG) regimen of fortnightly leucovorin, bolus fluorouracil and 22-h infusion of fluorouracil, d1+2, and the same regimen plus oxaliplatin, are effective but also cumbersome. We therefore present simplified ‘Modified de Gramont’ (MdG) regimens. Forty-six advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients entered a dose-exploring study of MdG, including an expanded cohort of colorectal cancer patients at optimum dose. Treatment (fortnightly) comprised: 2-h i.v.i. leucovorin (350 mg d,l-LV or 175 mg l-LV, not adjusted for patient surface area); bolus fluorouracil (400 mg m−2), then ambulatory 46-h fluorouracil infusion (2000–3600 mg m−2, cohort escalation). Subsequently, 62 colorectal patients (25 unpretreated; 37 fluorouracil-resistant) received MdG plus oxaliplatin (OxMdG) 85 mg m−2. Fluorouracil pharmacokinetics during MdG were compared with dG. The optimum fluorouracil doses for MdG alone were determined as 400 mg m−2 bolus + 2800 mg m−2 46-h infusion. A lower dose of 400 mg m−2 bolus + 2400 mg m−2 infusion which, like dG produces minimal toxicity, was chosen for the OxMdG combination. Fluorouracil exposure (AUC0–48 h) at this lower dose is equivalent to dG. With OxMdG, grade 3–4 toxicity was rare (neutropenia 2.8% cycles; vomiting or diarrhoea

TPS6091 Background: Patients with intermediate and high-risk oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) have poorer response to standard treatment and poorer overall survival compared to low-risk OPC. The CompARE trial is designed to test alternative approaches to intensification of treatment for these patients to improve survival. Methods: CompARE is a pragmatic phase III open-label multicenter RCT with an adaptive multi-arm multi-stage design. Eligible OPC patients include those with; HPV negative, T1-T4, N1-N3 or T3-4, N0 or HPV positive current smokers (or ≥ 10 pack years previous smoking history) with T1-T4, N2b-N3. The primary outcome measure is overall survival. Secondary outcome measures include quality of life, toxicity, swallowing outcomes, feeding tube incidence, surgical complications and cost-effectiveness. The trial is powered to detect a hazard ratio of 0.69 (an improvement of 10% in OS at 3-years) requiring 128 control events. It is estimated that the study will take 6.5 years to recruit sufficient patients to experience the number of events needed. Planned interim futility analyses using event-free survival (EFS) will be performed when 70 and 114 control EFS events have occurred. Current treatment arms are; (1) control: standard treatment of 3-weekly cisplatin 100mg/m2 or weekly 40mg/m2 with Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) using 70Gy in 35F +/- neck dissection determined by clinical and radiological assessment 3-months post treatment. (3) IMRT 64Gy in 25F + cisplatin 100mg/m2 day 1 of week 1 and week 5 or weekly 40mg/m2+/- neck dissection as per standard treatment. (4) Resection of primary + selective neck dissection followed by standard treatment. (5) One cycle of induction durvalumab 1500mg followed by standard treatment then durvalumab 1500mg every four weeks for a total of 6 months. Recruitment to arm (2) involving induction chemotherapy from the original protocol is suspended. Since July 2015, 42 patients have been randomised with 16 sites open to recruitment. The Data Monitoring Committee last reviewed progress and conduct of the trial in September 2016 and recommended continuation. ISRCTN Number: 41478539, CRUK CRUK/13/026 Clinical trial information: 41478539.

Introduction Endocrine therapy has now been used as an effective treatment for breast cancer for 100 years. It was the first successful systemic treatment for cancer, initially becoming accepted following George Beatson's (1896) observations that, in a proportion of pre-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer, bilateral oophorectomy resulted in disease regression. Over the subsequent 75 years, several other endocrine therapies for breast cancer were developed, including other surgical approaches to hormone ablation therapy such as adrenalectomy (Huggins & Dao 1953) and hypophysectomy (Luft & Olivecrona 1953), and hormonal additive therapies, such as the use of pharmacological doses of androgens, oestrogens, progestogens and glucocorticoids. However, as none of these approaches led to a significant improvement in the rates of tumour regression, clinicians' enthusiasm in the 1960s and early 1970s became focused on the use of newly developing cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens. Then, in the 1970s, tamoxifen, and subsequently a range of other new endocrine agents, became available which were of low toxicity and generally well tolerated - high-dose oestrogens were quickly replaced by tamoxifen, and adrenalectomy by aromatase inhibitors. Measurement of hormone receptor levels also became available, allowing better selection of patients whose tumours might be hormonally responsive. In addition, some of the limitations of cytotoxic drugs in breast cancer were starting to become apparent.

4521Background: gemcitabine (G) plus cisplatin (C) is a standard-of-care, combination chemotherapy regimen for patients (pts) with bladder cancer (BC), in both neoadjuvant and palliative settings. ...

e16138Background: The POUT trial compares surveillance (surv) with immediate chemotherapy (CT), following nephroureterectomy (NU) (CRUK/11/027). The primary endpoint is disease free survival. Secon...

Background: \ud We used bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin (BEP), the most effective regimen in the treatment of germ cell tumours (GCTs) and increased dose-density by using pegfilgrastim to shorten cycle length. Our aim was to assess safety and tolerability.\ud \ud Methods: \ud Sixteen male patients with intermediate or poor prognosis metastatic GCT were treated with four cycles of 3-day BEP with G-CSF on a 14-day cycle for a planned relative dose-density of 1.5 compared with standard BEP.\ud \ud Results: \ud Eleven intermediate and five poor prognosis patients were treated. In all, 14 of 16 patients completed the study treatment. Toxicities were comparable to previous studies using standard BEP, except for mucositis and haematological toxicity that were more severe. The overall relative dose-density for all 16 patients was mean 1.38 (range 0.72–1.5; median 1.46). Complete response was achieved after chemotherapy alone in two patients (13%) and following chemotherapy plus surgery in nine additional patients (56%). Four patients (25%) had a partial response and normalised their marker levels. At a median follow-up of 4.4 years (range 2.1–6.8) the estimated 5-year progression-free survival probability is 81% (95% CI 64–100%).\ud \ud Conclusion: \ud Accelerated BEP is tolerable without major additional toxicity. A randomised controlled trial will be required to obtain comparative efficacy data.

BACKGROUND: Meta-analysis data demonstrate a 5% absolute survival benefit for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) using cisplatin-based combination regimens in the radical treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, there are no randomized, controlled trial data on the optimum regimen. Accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (AMVAC) is a dose-intense regimen that has the potential to minimize delays to definitive, potentially curative therapy. A retrospective analysis is presented of the efficacy and toxicity of AMVAC as NAC in patients with MIBC and its impact on the patient pathway. METHODS: Eighty consecutive patients with MIBC were treated with AMVAC as NAC by 2 UK multidisciplinary uro-oncology teams. Three or 4 cycles of AMVAC (methotrexate 30 mg/m 2, vinblastine 3 mg/m 2, doxorubicin 30 mg/m 2, and cisplatin 70 mg/m 2) were given at 2-week intervals, with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support, prior to either radical surgery or radical radiotherapy. RESULTS: All planned cycles of chemotherapy were completed, without dose reduction or delay in 84% of patients. All 80 patients subsequently received their planned definitive therapy. Grade 3/4 toxicities were seen in 26% of the 42% of patients for whom toxicity data are available, including 12% grade 3/4 neutropenia. Pathological complete response to AMVAC was seen in 43% of 60 surgical patients. Objective radiological local response was seen in 83% of 57 evaluable patients. Two-year disease-free and overall survival were 65% and 77%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: AMVAC is safe and appears to be a well-tolerated and effective NAC regimen for MIBC. It minimizes delays to definitive treatment and produces excellent pathological and radiological response rates. It is an appropriate comparator for future randomized trials. Cancer 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society. Accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (AMVAC) has many of the characteristics of an ideal neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen: it minimizes delays to definitive treatment; it is safe, well-tolerated, and effective, resulting in excellent pathological and radiological response rates; and it has good long-term outcomes. It is an appropriate comparator for future randomized trials of neoadjvuant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Copyright © 2011 American Cancer Society.

448 Background: Whilst cisplatin combination therapy remains the standard of care for patients with advanced urothelial cancers, many patients are unsuitable for cisplatin and go on to receive carboplatin combination therapy. Although responses are frequent, overall outcomes remain poor, and there is a high unmet need for more effective first line treatment. Vandetanib is a well-tolerated, oral inhibitor of vascular and epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases, both of which are implicated in the pathogenesis of urothelial cancers. Methods: Patients with metastatic or inoperable urothelial cancer who had no prior chemotherapy and were unsuitable for cisplatin were randomly allocated to receive carboplatin (AUC 4.5, day 1) plus gemcitabine (1000mg/m2, days 1 and 8) plus either vandetanib (100mg od, days 1-21) (GCV) or matching placebo (GCP) in 21-day cycles up to a total of 6 cycles. Treatment allocation was double-blind. There was a planned safety review after the first 40 patients had received at least one cycle. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS). Sample size (n=82) was calculated using a one-sided alpha of 0.2 and power 80% to detect a HR of 0.65 for PFS. We present the final efficacy results. The trial was coordinated by the Wales Cancer Trials Unit at Cardiff University and funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK/09/024) and AstraZeneca. Results: Of 82 patients, 40 received GCV. 62 (76%) had a bladder primary, and 56 (68%) had poor renal function. The arms were well balanced except for age > 75 (13 (16%) GCV, 23 (28%) GCP). Median PFS was 8.5 months (m) (95% CI 6.0, 9.7) and 8.8 m (5.8, 9.0) for GCV and GCP respectively (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.93 (0.50, 1.71), P=0.89). Overall survival was 10.8 m (8.0, 13.0) and 13.8 m (11.1, 16.6) for GCV and GCP respectively (adjusted HR 1.38 (0.77, 2.46), P=0.24). Response rates were 50% (n=20) and 55% (n=23) for GCV and GCP. All-grade adverse events were similar but there were significantly more grade 3+ events in the GCV arm. Conclusion: Vandetanib did not improve efficacy of chemotherapy but increased toxicity in advanced urothelial cancer not suitable for cisplatin. Clinical trial information: 68146831.

Adoptive T-cell transfer has achieved significant clinical success in advanced melanoma. However, therapeutic efficacy is limited by poor T-cell survival after adoptive transfer and by inefficient trafficking to tumor sites. Here, we report that intratumoral expression of the chemokine CCL21 enhances the efficacy of adoptive T-cell therapy in a mouse model of melanoma. Based on our novel observation that CCL21 is highly chemotactic for activated OT-1 T cells in vitro and down-regulates expression of CD62L, we hypothesized that tumor cell–mediated expression of this chemokine might recruit, and retain, adoptively transferred T cells to the sites of tumor growth. Mice bearing metastatic tumors stably transduced with CCL21 survived significantly longer following adoptive T-cell transfer than mice bearing non–CCL21-expressing tumors. However, although we could not detect increased trafficking of the adoptively transferred T cells to tumors, tumor-expressed CCL21 promoted the survival and cytotoxic activity of the adoptively transferred T cells and led to the priming of antitumor immunity following T-cell transfer. To translate these observations into a protocol of real clinical usefulness, we showed that adsorption of a retrovirus encoding CCL21 to OT-1 T cells before adoptive transfer increased the therapeutic efficacy of a subsequently administered dose of OT-1 T cells, resulting in cure of metastatic disease and the generation of immunologic memory in the majority of treated mice. These studies indicate a promising role for CCL21 in enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of adoptive T-cell therapy. [Cancer Res 2007;67(1):300–8]

Purpose: The purpose of this trial was to establish if maintenance lapatinib after first-line chemotherapy is beneficial in HER1/HER2 positive metastatic urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) patients. Method: Patients with metastatic UBC were screened centrally for HER1/HER2 over expression. HER1/2 positive screened patients, who did not have progressive disease during chemotherapy (4-8 cycles) were randomised (1:1) to lapatinib (L) or placebo (P) after completion of first line/initial chemotherapy for metastatic disease. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS). Results: Between 2007-2013, 446 UBC patients were screened and 232 HER 1 or 2 positive patients were randomised. The median PFS for L and P were 4.5 months (95% CI: 2.8 – 5.4) and 5.1 months (95% CI: 3.0 – 5.8) respectively [HR: 1.07 (95% CI: 0.81 - 1.43) p = 0.63]. The overall survival for L and P were 12.6 months (95% CI: 9.0 – 16.2) and 12.0 months (95% CI: 10.5 – 14.9) respectively [HR = 0.96 (95% CI: 0.7 - 1.31) p = 0.80]. Discontinuation due to AEs were similar in both arms (6% lapatinib and 5% placebo). The rate of grade 3-4 AEs for L and P was 8.6% vs. 8.1% (p = 0.82). Pre-planned subset analysis of i) HER1/HER2 strongly positive patients (3+ on immunohistochemistry: n= 111) ii) HER1 only positive patients (n= 102) iii) HER2 only positive patients (n= 42) showed no significant benefit with lapatinib in terms of PFS and OS (p>0.05 for each). Conclusion: This trial failed to find significant improvements in outcome by the addition of maintenance lapatinib to standard of care.

TPS4574 Background: The triple angiokinase inhibitor nintedanib (nin) has shown reduced proliferation and elevated apoptosis to a greater extent than chemotherapy alone in animal models. We aim to ...

TPS4589 Background: Urothelial cancer (UC) is a chemosensitive disease. There is a clear role for first line, platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced disease, response rates being around 40-50%. Ho...

11079 Background: Increasing demand for testing multiple markers for targeted therapies requires a platform to incorporate molecular diagnostics in the normal pathway of care. This programme was pl...

4531 Background: Standard chemotherapy for advanced germ cell tumors is 3-weekly BEP (bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin). 5-year overall survival is > 90% in good risk disease, but only ~80% in intermediate and ~ 60% in poor risk disease. Accelerated versions of standard regimens have proven more effective in other malignancies. We aimed to determine tolerability and activity of accelerated (2-weekly) BEP by combining data from two single arm, multi-center, phase I/II trials. Methods: The UK trial (n=16) included patients with intermediate and poor risk metastatic germ cell tumours. The Australian trial (n=45) also included patients with radiologically measurable good risk disease. BEP chemotherapy was repeated every 2 weeks for 4 cycles (3 cycles for good risk). The Australian and UK regimens differed for cisplatin (20mg/m2 D1-5; 50mg/m2 D1-2), etoposide (100mg/m2 D1-5; 165mg/m2 D1-3), bleomycin (30kIU weekly x 12 or 9; 30kIU at 4-6 day intervals x 12), and pegylated G-CSF (6mg D6; 6mg D4) respectively. Primary endpoint for combined analysis was 2-year progression-free survival. Results: 61 patients were enrolled from 2004-09 (UK) and 2008-10 (Australia). 17 had poor risk, 28 intermediate risk, 16 good risk disease. Median follow-up is 27 months (range 6 to 81). Adverse events are presented in the table. 45 of 61 patients (74%) achieved a complete response to chemotherapy +/- surgery (9 of 17 poor risk (53%), 20 of 28 intermediate risk (71%), 16 of 16 good risk disease (100%)). 11 of 61 patients have relapsed. 2 patients have died of disease (both intermediate risk). 2 year overall survival is 98%. 2 year progression-free survival is 65% for poor risk, 86% for intermediate risk, and 92% for good risk disease. Conclusions: Efficacy data are promising, particularly for intermediate and poor risk disease. Adverse events appear comparable to standard BEP. These results provide the rationale for an international trial randomised trial comparing accelerated and standard versions of BEP. [Table: see text]

326 Background: Chemotherapy for penis cancer is used to palliate metastatic disease and treat locally-advanced disease. Pathologic similarities to head and neck SCC suggest that adding docetaxel (T) to platinum-based regimens may enhance efficacy. Methods: A single-stage single-arm phase II trial was conducted. Eligible patients had measurable, histologically proven penile SCC staged M1; or T4, any N, M0; or any T, N3/inoperable N2, M0; or any T, N1, M0 with Multi-Disciplinary Team agreement for chemotherapy as first-line therapy. Treatment was three 21-day cycles of TPF (day 1: T 75mg/m2, P 60mg/m2; days 1-5: F 750mg/m2/day). In 26 evaluable patients ≥14 responses were required to conclude a response rate of ≥60% (p0=0.35, p1=0.60, α=0.1, β=0.2; Fleming-A’Hern design). Primary endpoint was overall response rate at completion/discontinuation of trial treatment. Secondary endpoints included safety, tolerability, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: 29 patients (median age 61 years) were recruited from 9 UK centres between Sept 2009 and Dec 2010. 8 patients were M1. 17 patients had performance status (PS) 0, 11 PS1, 1 PS2. 3 patients discontinued treatment early for reasons other than progression. Dose reductions/delays were reported for 13 patients. 28 patients have on-treatment toxicity data: 19 (68%) experienced grade 3/4 toxicity, with neutropenia most common (n=13, 46%). 7 patients (25%) experienced febrile neutropenia and/or neutropenic sepsis. 10/26 patients (38.5%, 95% CI: 20.2% - 59.4%) in the evaluable population responded. Twelve month PFS was 39.1% (95% CI: 20.9% - 56.8%; median PFS (all 29 patients/M1/M0): 7.1/ 3.1/ 9.6- months). Twelve month OS was 54.6% (34.9% - 70.6%; median OS (all patients/M1/M0): 13.7/ 6.9/ not reached yet-months). Conclusions: UK clinicians successfully recruited to a multi-centre trial in penis cancer, establishing a network of centres for future studies. Toxic effects of TPF were common but not unexpected. The trial did not reach its target response rate of ≥60% to justify further investigation although PFS and OS in this cohort compares favourably to reported data in literature.

235 Background: Meta-analysis data demonstrate a 5% absolute survival benefit for the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) using cisplatin-based combination regimens in the radical treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, there is currently no randomized controlled trial data on the optimum regimen for this setting. Accelerated MVAC (AMVAC) is effective in advanced disease, and has the potential advantage over other NAC regimens of minimising delays to definitive, potentially curative therapy. We present data regarding its use as NAC in MIBC patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on all 80 consecutive patients with muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, treated during a 50-month period at 2 U.K. centers. Patients received either 3 or 4 cycles of methotrexate 30mg/m2, vinblastine 3mg/m2, doxorubicin 30mg/m2 and 4-hour infusion of cisplatin 70mg/m2 at 2-week intervals, with G-CSF support, prior to definitive therapy with either radical surgery (RS) or radical radiotherapy (RT). Results: All planned cycles of chemotherapy were completed in 84% of patients. All 80 patients received their planned definitive therapy. Pathological complete response (pCR) was seen in 43% of 60 patients treated with surgery following chemotherapy. There were no chemotherapy-related deaths and grade 3 or 4 toxicities were seen in 11% of patients. Median duration of chemotherapy was 34 days. Dose reduction or delay was required in 7% and 9% of patients, respectively. Objective radiological local response was seen in 75% of patients. At a median follow-up of 27.5 months, 25 (32%) patients have relapsed and 11 (14%) died. Two-year disease-free survival was 65% overall, and was statistically significantly superior in patients who were radiologically node-negative prior to chemotherapy. Conclusions: AMVAC is a safe, well-tolerated, and easily deliverable regimen with excellent treatment outcomes and minimizes delays to definitive treatment. It is an appropriate comparator for future randomized trials. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

3080 Background: Reolysin is an isolate of reovirus, a RNA virus which replicates in cells with activated Ras signaling pathway while sparing normal cells. We conducted a phase I/II dose escalation...

e15011 Background: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) permits shorter cycle intervals and increased dose density with potential for improved therapeutic ratio. We report a phase II study...

Background: Reovirus is a double-stranded RNA virus which replicates in cells with activated Ras signaling pathway, while sparing normal cells. Following our recent study of intravenous (i.v.) reovirus in patients with advanced malignancies1, we have conducted a Phase I/II dose escalation study of i.v. reovirus in combination with chemotherapy. Methods: REOLYSIN® was administered to cohorts of 3 patients in escalating doses (3 × 109, 1 × 1010, 3 × 1010 TCID50) on days 1–5 while carboplatin AUC 5 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 were administered on day 1 of a 3-weekly schedule. Eligible patients had good performance status (ECOG PS: 0–2) with advanced cancers which were not amenable to curative treatment or were refractory to standard therapy for which paclitaxel/carboplatin was appropriate palliative chemotherapy. Results: Twenty-three patients (15 males, median age 56.9 years) with head and neck cancer (n=17), melanoma (n=4) or peritoneal/endometrial cancer (n=2) received 106 cycles (median 6, range 1–8) of combination treatment. In the dose-escalation phase of the study, there were no dose-limiting toxicities. Grade 3/4 toxicities included anaemia, leucopenia, neutropenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, infection and hypotension. Viral shedding (as assayed by reverse transcription PCR) has been documented in 2 patients. Neutralising anti-reovirus antibody responses have been measured using a previously reported technique2 and will be presented. In the Phase 1 study partial responses (PR) were noted in one of four patients with melanoma and in two of five patients with head and neck cancer. An expanded cohort of head and neck cancer patients was therefore treated at the maximum dose level (3 × 1010 TCID50) in order to further assess tumor response in this setting. To date, 14 patients with head and neck cancer have received at least two cycles and are evaluable for response. Most of them were refractory to previous platinum-based chemotherapy for recurrent/metastatic disease. PR was seen in 6 patients (43%), SD in 5 (36%) and PD in 3 (21%). The study is ongoing. Conclusion: Intravenous administration of reovirus in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel is a safe and well-tolerated combination with promising anticancer activity in SCCHN. Further evaluation of this combination in a randomized Phase III trial in SCCHN is planned. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):B242.

16077 Background: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) permits shorter cycle intervals and increased dose density in breast cancer, small cell lung cancer and lymphoma. We report the first phase II study to assess the tolerability and toxicity of a dose dense accelerated BEP regimen in patients with germ cell tumours. Methods: Patients (pts) from 4 UK centres with intermediate and high risk metastatic germ cell tumour according to the IGCCG criteria entered this study. Pts were treated with 4 cycles every 14 days (d) of Cisplatin (50 mg/m2) d1–2, Etoposide (165 mg/m2) d1–3, Bleomycin (30,000 IU, 3 doses/cycle) at 4–6 d intervals and Pegfilgrastin (Neulasta, Amgen 6 mg sc) d4. The planned dose-intensity for each drug was 1.5 compared to standard BEP. Results: 12 of 20 planned pts were recruited 2004–2007. 9 pts had intermediate risk disease and 3 had high risk disease. Ten of 12 pts completed 4 cycles of treatment as planned. Complete response after chemotherapy was achieved in 1 pt (10%) and afte...

Nat. Biotechnol. 20, 256–263 (2002); corrected after print 10 October 2006 In the version of this article initially published, the name of the sixth author was misspelled. The correct spelling is Francois-Loic Cosset. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.