Lucille Sebastian

Precision Medicine for Advanced Pancreas Cancer: The Individualized Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy (IMPaCT) Trial

Purpose: Personalized medicine strategies using genomic profiling are particularly pertinent for pancreas cancer. The Individualized Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy (IMPaCT) trial was initially designed to exploit results from genome sequencing of pancreatic cancer under the auspices of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) in Australia. Sequencing revealed small subsets of patients with aberrations in their tumor genome that could be targeted with currently available therapies. Experimental Design: The pilot stage of the IMPaCT trial assessed the feasibility of acquiring suitable tumor specimens for molecular analysis and returning high-quality actionable genomic data within a clinically acceptable timeframe. We screened for three molecular targets: HER2 amplification; KRAS wild-type; and mutations in DNA damage repair pathways (BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM). Results: Tumor biopsy and archived tumor samples were collected from 93 patients and 76 were screened. To date 22 candidate cases have been identified: 14 KRAS wild-type, 5 cases of HER2 amplification, 2 mutations in BRCA2, and 1 ATM mutation. Median time from consent to the return of validated results was 21.5 days. An inability to obtain a biopsy or insufficient tumor content in the available specimen were common reasons for patient exclusion from molecular analysis while deteriorating performance status prohibited a number of patients from proceeding in the study. Conclusions: Documenting the feasibility of acquiring and screening biospecimens for actionable molecular targets in real time will aid other groups embarking on similar trials. Key elements include the need to better prescreen patients, screen more patients, and offer more attractive clinical trial options. Clin Cancer Res; 21(9); 2029–37. ©2015 AACR.

Delayed versus Immediate Cord Clamping in Preterm Infants

Background The preferred timing of umbilical‐cord clamping in preterm infants is unclear. Methods We randomly assigned fetuses from women who were expected to deliver before 30 weeks of gestation to either immediate clamping of the umbilical cord (≤10 seconds after delivery) or delayed clamping (≥60 seconds after delivery). The primary composite outcome was death or major morbidity (defined as severe brain injury on postnatal ultrasonography, severe retinopathy of prematurity, necrotizing enterocolitis, or late‐onset sepsis) by 36 weeks of postmenstrual age. Analyses were performed on an intention‐to‐treat basis, accounting for multiple births. Results Of 1634 fetuses that underwent randomization, 1566 were born alive before 30 weeks of gestation; of these, 782 were assigned to immediate cord clamping and 784 to delayed cord clamping. The median time between delivery and cord clamping was 5 seconds and 60 seconds in the respective groups. Complete data on the primary outcome were available for 1497 infants (95.6%). There was no significant difference in the incidence of the primary outcome between infants assigned to delayed clamping (37.0%) and those assigned to immediate clamping (37.2%) (relative risk, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.13; P=0.96). The mortality was 6.4% in the delayed‐clamping group and 9.0% in the immediate‐clamping group (P=0.03 in unadjusted analyses; P=0.39 after post hoc adjustment for multiple secondary outcomes). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidences of chronic lung disease or other major morbidities. Conclusions Among preterm infants, delayed cord clamping did not result in a lower incidence of the combined outcome of death or major morbidity at 36 weeks of gestation than immediate cord clamping. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC] and the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre; APTS Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12610000633088.)

Identification of infants with major cognitive delay using parental report

Aim  The collection of data on longer‐term neurodevelopmental outcomes within large neonatal randomized controlled trials by trained assessors can greatly increase costs and present many operational difficulties. The aim of this study was to develop a more practical alternative for identifying major cognitive delay in infants at the age of 24 months, based on parental reports.

Performance of the Parent Report of Children's Abilities–Revised (PARCA-R) versus the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III

Background The Parent Report of Children’s Abilities-Revised (PARCA-R) assesses cognitive and language development at 24 months. It was validated against the Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID II), but this has now been superseded by BSID III. Objective To compare the PARCA-R against the BSID III. Methods PARCA-R and BSID III assessments scheduled at 24 months of age (corrected for prematurity) were completed in 204 infants with suspected or proven neonatal sepsis in the International Neonatal Immunotherapy Study. Associations between the scales were measured and the predictive accuracy of the PARCA-R for moderate cognitive delay and moderate language delay was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results Median birthweight was 911 g, median gestational age at birth was 27 weeks and 100 (49.0%) were girls. 4.4% and 8.4% met standard BSID III criteria for cognitive delay and language delay, respectively. These rates increased to 19.6% and 12.6% when an independent sample of normal term infants were used as the reference group suggesting standard BSID III reference norms may tend to underestimate delay. The Spearman correlation between PARCA-R and BSID scales were 0.43 for cognition and 0.71 for language. The PARCA-R successfully predicted cases of cognitive delay and language delay with the area under the ROC curves ranging from 0.83 to 0.97 depending on reference norms used. Conclusions The results support the PARCA-R as a practical tool for the identification of appreciable cognitive and language delay at 24 months among critically ill premature and extremely low birthweight neonates.

Interobserver agreement and image quality of functional cardiac ultrasound measures used in a randomised trial of delayed cord clamping in preterm infants

Objective Functional cardiac ultrasound measures are used clinically and in trials for assessing the haemodynamic status of newborn infants. Superior vena cava (SVC) flow and right ventricular output (RVO) are established measures of systemic blood flow on the first postnatal day. The objective was to assess image quality and interobserver agreement of these measures in preterm infants enrolled in a randomised trial of immediate versus delayed cord clamping. Design and setting Image quality and interobserver agreement for SVC flow, RVO and ductus arteriosus (DA) size were assessed on measurements taken at 3–6, 6–12 and 20–28 hours for the first 10 infants enrolled at each of four sites (total 40). Bland-Altman plots were constructed; mean difference (bias) and limits of agreement (LOA) were calculated. Potential sources of variation were explored. Results Quality was judged satisfactory for >97% of images. The mean difference and LOA between the observers were 5.4 mL/kg/min and −49.0 to 59.8 mL/kg/min for SVC flow, −26.6 mL/kg/min and −131.4 to 78.2 mL/kg/min for RVO, and 0 mm and −0.8 to 0.8 mm for DA diameter, respectively. The principal source of measurement error for SVC flow was diameter, and for RVO, diameter and velocity time integral. The difference between observers for both SVC and RVO was significantly associated with site. Conclusion Interobserver variability for SVC flow is consistent with that previously reported, but higher for RVO. The findings should be incorporated into clinical practice, training, accreditation and trial design.

Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutics (MoST): a framework for multiple, parallel signal-seeking studies of targeted therapies for rare and neglected cancers

Background: Precision medicine aims to link molecular targets in tumours with corresponding therapies, particularly for patients with rare cancers. Innovative approaches are needed to translate molecular opportunities into clinical care. The Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutics (MoST) program employs a molecular screening platform to identify molecular changes of therapeutic relevance (actionable changes) and a master protocol for multiple, parallel signal‐seeking clinical substudies, focused on therapies for patients with rare and neglected cancers.

Abstract CT210: Precision medicine for advanced pancreas cancer: the individualized molecular pancreatic cancer therapy (IMPaCT) trial

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Background: The Individualized Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy (IMPaCT) trial is designed to exploit results from whole genome sequencing of pancreatic cancer collected under the auspices of the ICGC in Australia. Results showed that small subsets of patients had actionable changes in their tumor genome that could be druggable with currently available therapies. Only 7% of cases were found to be KRAS wildtype, and this phenotype may enrich for susceptibility to EGFR inhibition. Her2 positivity occurs in 2% and may confer sensitivity to Her inhibition. Tumors displaying defects in the DNA damage repair pathway (∼5%) respond to DNA damaging chemotherapy. Trial Design: The IMPaCT trial has recently been amended to a single arm pilot study of first line molecularly guided therapy for advanced pancreas cancer. Patients are permitted to begin their first cycle of chemotherapy with gemcitabine with or without nab-paclitaxel while awaiting molecular results. We screen potential patients for the three molecular targets: Her2 amplification: trastuzumab + gemcitabine; KRAS wildtype: erlotinib + gemcitabine; and DNA damage: platinum-based chemotherapy. In our initial cohort of patients who underwent resection with curative intent, 70% recurred. Recurrence occurred 16m after initial surgery. Collection of tissue commenced in 2009. The first site to open was in April 2013 by which time, only 8 patients for whom we had complete sequence data and actionable mutations were still alive, so we changed the trial to screen de novo metastatic patients. Using the WGS data, we constructed a custom sequencing panel to use DNA extracted from FFPE core biopsies to screen in real time for mutations in KRAS, BRCA2, BRCA1, PALB2 and ATM. Her2 screening is undertaken with IHC and FISH. We have screened 89 cases in 18m, 8 have relevant molecular targets. The average time from biopsy to delivery of results is 21d. 2 of the 8 eligible cases have commenced precision therapy on trial. Citation Format: Lorraine Chantrill, Skye Simpson, Amber Johns, Mona Martyn-Smith, Angela Chou, Clare Watson, Adnan Nagrial, Venessa Chin, Lucille Sebastian, Sonia Yip, John Simes, Nick Pavlakis, Peter Grimison, Ray Asghari, Sandra Harvey, Andrew Biankin. Precision medicine for advanced pancreas cancer: the individualized molecular pancreatic cancer therapy (IMPaCT) trial. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr CT210. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-CT210

1628TiPPRECISION MEDICINE FOR ADVANCED PANCREAS CANCER: EARLY LESSONS LEARNED FROM NEGOTIATING THE PITFALLS OF A MOLECULAR THERAPEUTICS TRIAL IN A POOR PROGNOSIS CANCER

ABSTRACT Background: The Individualized Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy (IMPaCT) trial was designed to exploit results from whole genome sequencing of pancreatic cancer collected under the auspices of the ICGC in Australia. Results showed that small subsets of patients had actionable changes in their tumor genome that could be druggable with currently available therapies. 93% of cases analyzed harbored a KRAS mutation, KRAS wildtype phenotype may enrich for susceptibility to EGFR inhibition. Her2 positivity occurs in 2% and may confer sensitivity to Her inhibition. Tumors displaying defects in the DNA damage repair pathway (∼5%) respond to DNA damaging chemotherapy. Trial design: The IMPaCT trial is a randomized phase 2 study of first line molecularly guided therapy against standard therapy with gemcitabine in advanced pancreas cancer. We screen potential patients for the three molecular targets: Her2 amplification: trastuzumab+gemcitabine; KRAS wildtype: erlotinib+gemcitabine; and DNA damage: mitomycin C+5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. If a patients tumour has one of these signals, they consent to be randomized to precision treatment tailored for them or standard therapy with gemcitabine. For analysis, the precision treatment arm will be considered as a whole and compared to the standard therapy arm. In our initial cohort of patients who underwent resection with curative intent, 70% recurred. Recurrence occurred on average 16m after initial surgery. Collection of tissue commenced in 2009. The first site to open was in June 2013 by which time, only 6 patients for whom we had complete sequence data and actionable mutations were still alive, so we changed the trial to screen de novo metastatic patients. Using the WGS data, we constructed a custom sequencing panel for DNA extracted from FFPE core biopsies to screen for mutations in KRAS, BRCA2, BRCA1, PALB2 and ATM. Her2 screening is undertaken with IHC and FISH. We have screened 49 cases, and found 10 with relevant molecular targets, 5 of whom were eligible. The average time from biopsy to delivery of results is 23d, an amendment has allowed patients to commence standard therapy whilst waiting for the results of molecular analysis. The IMPaCT trial is breaking new ground in the treatment of pancreas cancer. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Abstract A75: The IMPaCT trial: Individualised Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy. A pilot, randomized, open label Phase II trial assessing first line treatment with gemcitabine or personalized treatment based on tumour molecular signature in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Background: Less than 5% of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer survive to 5 years and there have been no major improvements in outcomes over the last 20 years. The use of treatments targeted according to the molecular phenotype of individual tumours may result in improved response and survival compared to standard therapy. Methods: The IMPaCT trial is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the AGITG, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Sydney Catalyst, and the Kinghorn Cancer Centre at Garvan Institute of Medical Research, which houses the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI). Patients who have available sequence data will be screened for actionable molecular phenotypes and randomized 1:1 to receive standard therapy (gemcitabine) or personalized treatment. Recruitment to the IMPaCT trial is based on the following defined molecular phenotypes: HER2/neu overexpression: personalized treatment with gemcitabine + trastuzumab; BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 mutations: personalized treatment with 5-FU and mitomycin C; Kras wildtype: personalized treatment with gemcitabine + erlotinib. The study will be conducted in two parts: an initial 20 patient pilot trial across 4 Australian sites assessing feasibility, followed by an additional 70 patients to assess progression (90 patients in total). The pilot study is now open and active. Results: The novel trial design involves personalized treatment, where therapies are assigned based on a defined molecular phenotype, in a standard care setting. Stratifying randomization for individual molecular signatures will provide evidence, albeit in small numbers, for confirmation in a larger Phase III trial and broader clinical applicability. Additionally, the study offers the opportunity to explore a number of unique tertiary/correlative objectives, including the planned examination of circulating DNA as a surrogate of survival. Conclusion: The IMPaCT trial exemplifies a strong collaboration between basic scientists, clinicians and clinical trial investigators to illustrate the promises and challenges facing the development and successful testing of personalized therapeutic strategies. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):A75. Citation Format: Lorraine Chantrill, Amber Johns, Adnan Nagrial, Venessa Chin, Angela Chou, Mark Pinese, Scott Mead, Val Gebski, Katrin Sjoquist, Chee Lee, Sonia Yip, Danielle Miller, Lucille Sebastian, Ray Asghari, Sandra Harvey, Nick Pavlakis, Sanjay Mukhedkar, Peter Grimison, David Miller, John Pearson, Nicola Waddell, Sean Grimmond, John Simes, Andrew Biankin. The IMPaCT trial: Individualised Molecular Pancreatic Cancer Therapy. A pilot, randomized, open label Phase II trial assessing first line treatment with gemcitabine or personalized treatment based on tumour molecular signature in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A75.