Matthias Kroiss

Combination chemotherapy in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma

BACKGROUND Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare cancer that has a poor response to cytotoxic treatment. METHODS We randomly assigned 304 patients with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma to receive mitotane plus either a combination of etoposide (100 mg per square meter of body-surface area on days 2 to 4), doxorubicin (40 mg per square meter on day 1), and cisplatin (40 mg per square meter on days 3 and 4) (EDP) every 4 weeks or streptozocin (streptozotocin) (1 g on days 1 to 5 in cycle 1; 2 g on day 1 in subsequent cycles) every 3 weeks. Patients with disease progression received the alternative regimen as second-line therapy. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS For first-line therapy, patients in the EDP-mitotane group had a significantly higher response rate than those in the streptozocin-mitotane group (23.2% vs. 9.2%, P<0.001) and longer median progression-free survival (5.0 months vs. 2.1 months; hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43 to 0.69; P<0.001); there was no significant between-group difference in overall survival (14.8 months and 12.0 months, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.61 to 1.02; P=0.07). Among the 185 patients who received the alternative regimen as second-line therapy, the median duration of progression-free survival was 5.6 months in the EDP-mitotane group and 2.2 months in the streptozocin-mitotane group. Patients who did not receive the alternative second-line therapy had better overall survival with first-line EDP plus mitotane (17.1 month) than with streptozocin plus mitotane (4.7 months). Rates of serious adverse events did not differ significantly between treatments. CONCLUSIONS Rates of response and progression-free survival were significantly better with EDP plus mitotane than with streptozocin plus mitotane as first-line therapy, with similar rates of toxic events, although there was no significant difference in overall survival. (Funded by the Swedish Research Council and others; FIRM-ACT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00094497.).

Integrated genomic characterization of adrenocortical carcinoma

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) are aggressive cancers originating in the cortex of the adrenal gland. Despite overall poor prognosis, ACC outcome is heterogeneous. We performed exome sequencing and SNP array analysis of 45 ACCs and identified recurrent alterations in known driver genes (CTNNB1, TP53, CDKN2A, RB1 and MEN1) and in genes not previously reported in ACC (ZNRF3, DAXX, TERT and MED12), which we validated in an independent cohort of 77 ACCs. ZNRF3, encoding a cell surface E3 ubiquitin ligase, was the most frequently altered gene (21%) and is a potential new tumor suppressor gene related to the β-catenin pathway. Our integrated genomic analyses further identified two distinct molecular subgroups with opposite outcome. The C1A group of ACCs with poor outcome displayed numerous mutations and DNA methylation alterations, whereas the C1B group of ACCs with good prognosis displayed specific deregulation of two microRNA clusters. Thus, aggressive and indolent ACCs correspond to two distinct molecular entities driven by different oncogenic alterations.

Adrenocortical carcinoma: a clinician's update

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare heterogeneous neoplasm with an incompletely understood pathogenesis and a poor prognosis. Previous studies have identified overexpression of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) and constitutive activation of β-catenin as key factors involved in the development of adrenocortical carcinoma. Most patients present with steroid hormone excess, for example Cushing syndrome or virilization, or abdominal mass effects, but a growing proportion of patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (currently >15%) is initially diagnosed incidentally. No general consensus on the diagnostic and therapeutic measures for adrenocortical carcinoma exists, but collaborative efforts, such as international conferences and networks, including the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors (ENSAT), have substantially advanced the field. In patients with suspected adrenocortical carcinoma, a thorough endocrine and imaging work-up is recommended to guide the surgical approach aimed at complete resection of the tumor. To establish an adequate basis for treatment decisions, pathology reports include the Weiss score to assess malignancy, the resection status and the Ki67 index. As recurrence is frequent, close follow-up initially every 3 months is mandatory. Most patients benefit from adjuvant mitotane treatment. In metastatic disease, mitotane is the cornerstone of initial treatment, and cytotoxic drugs should be added in case of progression. Results of a large phase III trial in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma are anticipated for 2011 and will hopefully establish a benchmark therapy. New targeted therapies, for example, IGF-1 receptor inhibitors, are under investigation and may soon improve current treatment options.

Linsitinib (OSI-906) versus placebo for patients with locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma: a double-blind, randomised, phase 3 study

BACKGROUND Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare, aggressive cancer for which few treatment options are available. Linsitinib (OSI-906) is a potent, oral small molecule inhibitor of both IGF-1R and the insulin receptor, which has shown acceptable tolerability and preliminary evidence of anti-tumour activity. We assessed linsitinib against placebo to investigate efficacy in patients with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma. METHODS In this international, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study, adult patients with histologically confirmed locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma were recruited at clinical sites in nine countries. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) twice-daily 150 mg oral linsitinib or placebo via a web-based, centralised randomisation system and stratified according to previous systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy for adrenocortical carcinoma, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and use of one or more oral antihyperglycaemic therapy at randomisation. Allocation was concealed by blinded block size and permuted block randomisation. The primary endpoint was overall survival, calculated from date of randomisation until death from any cause. The primary analysis was done in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00924989. FINDINGS Between Dec 2, 2009, and July 11, 2011, 139 patients were enrolled, of whom 90 were assigned to linsitinib and 49 to placebo. The trial was unblinded on March 19, 2012, based on data monitoring committee recommendation due to the failure of linsitinib to increase either progression-free survival or overall survival. At database lock and based on 92 deaths, no difference in overall survival was noted between linsitinib and placebo (median 323 days [95% CI 256-507] vs 356 days [249-556]; hazard ratio 0·94 [95% CI 0·61-1·44]; p=0·77). The most common treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or worse in the linsitinib group were fatigue (three [3%] patients vs no patients in the placebo group), nausea (two [2%] vs none), and hyperglycaemia (two [2%] vs none). No adverse events in the linsitinib group were deemed to be treatment related; one death (due to sepsis and megacolon) in the placebo group was deemed to be treatment related. INTERPRETATION Linsitinib did not increase overall survival and so cannot be recommended as treatment for this general patient population. Further studies of IGF-1R and insulin receptor inhibitors, together with genetic profiling of responders, might pave the way toward individualised and improved therapeutic options in adrenocortical carcinoma. FUNDING Astellas.

Bevacizumab plus capecitabine as a salvage therapy in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma

OBJECTIVE No standard therapy for advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is established by any randomized trial but a consensus conference 2003 recommended mitotane as monotherapy or combined with etoposide, doxorubicin and cisplatin or with streptozotocin as first-line systemic therapy. However, there is no evidence for any therapy beneficial in patients failing these therapies. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of the anti-VEGF antibody bevacizumab plus capecitabine as salvage therapy in ACC. METHODS Patients registered with the German ACC Registry with refractory ACC progressing after cytotoxic therapies were offered treatment with bevacizumab (5 mg/kg body weight i.v. every 21 days) and oral capecitabine (950 mg/m(2) twice daily for 14 days followed by 7 days of rest) in 2006-2008. Evaluation of tumour response was performed by imaging according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumours every 12 weeks. RESULTS Ten patients were treated with bevacizumab plus capecitabine. None of them experienced any objective response or stable disease. Two patients had to stop therapy after few weeks due to hand-foot syndrome, and three patients died on progressive disease within 12 weeks. Other adverse events were mild (grade I-II). Median survival after treatment initiation was 124 days. CONCLUSIONS Bevacizumab plus capecitabine has no activity in patients with very advanced ACC. Hence, this regimen cannot be recommended as a salvage therapy.

Drug interactions with mitotane by induction of CYP3A4 metabolism in the clinical management of adrenocortical carcinoma

Mitotane [1‐(2‐chlorophenyl)‐1‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐2,2‐dichloroethane, (o,p’‐DDD)] is the only drug approved for the treatment for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and has also been used for various forms of glucocorticoid excess. Through still largely unknown mechanisms, mitotane inhibits adrenal steroid synthesis and adrenocortical cell proliferation. Mitotane increases hepatic metabolism of cortisol, and an increased replacement dose of glucocorticoids is standard of care during mitotane treatment. Recently, sunitinib, a multityrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has been found to be rapidly metabolized by CYP3A4 during mitotane treatment, indicating clinically relevant drug interactions with mitotane. We here summarize the current evidence concerning mitotane‐induced changes in hepatic monooxygenase expression, list drugs potentially affected by mitotane‐related CYP3A4 induction and suggest alternatives. For example, using standard doses of macrolide antibiotics is unlikely to reach sufficient plasma levels, making fluoroquinolones in many cases a superior choice. Similarly, statins such as simvastatin are metabolized by CYP3A4, whereas others like pravastatin are not. Importantly, in the past, several clinical trials using cytotoxic drugs but also targeted therapies in ACC yielded disappointing results. This lack of antineoplastic activity may be explained in part by insufficient drug exposure owing to enhanced drug metabolism induced by mitotane. Thus, induction of CYP3A4 by mitotane needs to be considered in the design of future clinical trials in ACC.

Sunitinib in Refractory Adrenocortical Carcinoma: A Phase II, Single-Arm, Open-Label Trial

CONTEXT Treatment of refractory adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is not established. Animal experiments pointed toward adrenal toxicity of sunitinib. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to determine the antitumor effects of sunitinib in refractory ACC. DESIGN This was a phase II, open-label trial using a two-stage accrual design. SETTING The study was conducted at two tertiary referral centers. PATIENTS Thirty-eight patients with refractory ACC progressing after mitotane and one to three cytotoxic chemotherapies participated in the study. INTERVENTION The intervention included sunitinib at a standard dose (50 mg/d, 4 wk on, 2 wk off). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Response was defined as progression-free survival (PFS) of 12 wk or longer (first tumor evaluation). RESULTS Thirty-five patients could be evaluated for response. Five patients experienced stable disease, 24 had progressive disease, and six patients died from ACC before the first evaluation (naïve estimate five of 35=14.3%, median unbiased response rate 15.4%, 95% confidence interval 5.0-33.4%). The median PFS was 2.8 months. In responders, PFS ranged between 5.6 and 11.2 months and overall survival between 14.0 and 35.5 months. Of 36 serious adverse events, only nine were possibly related to sunitinib. Concomitant mitotane appeared to negatively impact on outcome. Furthermore, a negative correlation between the serum concentrations of sunitinib plus its active metabolite N-desethylsunitinib (SU12662) and mitotane (r=-0.650; P=0.114) was observed in seven evaluable patients suggestive of a relevant drug interaction. CONCLUSION Sunitinib has modest activity in advanced refractory ACC, which compares favorably with other targeted treatments in these patients. Sunitinib serum levels might have been profoundly reduced by mitotane induced cytochrome P450-3A4 activity attenuating its antitumor activity and adverse effects. Together these findings suggest that sunitinib deserves further investigation in mitotane-naïve ACC patients.

Major Prognostic Role of Ki67 in Localized Adrenocortical Carcinoma After Complete Resection

BACKGROUND Recurrence of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) even after complete (R0) resection occurs frequently. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify markers with prognostic value for patients in this clinical setting. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS From the German ACC registry, 319 patients with the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors stage I-III were identified. As an independent validation cohort, 250 patients from three European countries were included. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Clinical, histological, and immunohistochemical markers were correlated with recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS Although univariable analysis within the German cohort suggested several factors with potential prognostic power, upon multivariable adjustment only a few including age, tumor size, venous tumor thrombus (VTT), and the proliferation marker Ki67 retained significance. Among these, Ki67 provided the single best prognostic value for RFS (hazard ratio [HR] for recurrence, 1.042 per 1% increase; P < .0001) and OS (HR for death, 1.051; P < .0001) which was confirmed in the validation cohort. Accordingly, clinical outcome differed significantly between patients with Ki67 <10%, 10-19%, and ≥20% (for the German cohort: median RFS, 53.2 vs 31.6 vs 9.4 mo; median OS, 180.5 vs 113.5 vs 42.0 mo). Using the combined cohort prognostic scores including tumor size, VTT, and Ki67 were established. Although these scores discriminated slightly better between subgroups, there was no clinically meaningful advantage in comparison with Ki67 alone. CONCLUSION This largest study on prognostic markers in localized ACC identified Ki67 as the single most important factor predicting recurrence in patients following R0 resection. Thus, evaluation of Ki67 indices should be introduced as standard grading in all pathology reports of patients with ACC.

The Role of Surgery in the Management of Recurrent Adrenocortical Carcinoma

CONTEXT Surgery is the standard of care for localized adrenocortical carcinomas, but its role for recurrent disease is not well defined. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate clinical outcome after surgery for recurrence. DESIGN We conducted a retrospective analysis in 154 patients with first recurrence after initial radical resection from the German Adrenocortical Carcinoma Registry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We evaluated progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by Kaplan-Meier method and identified prognostic factors by Cox regression analysis. RESULT A total of 101 patients underwent repeated surgery (radical resection, n = 78), and 99 received (additional) nonsurgical therapy. After a median of 6 (1-221) months, 144 patients (94%) experienced progression. Multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, tumor burden, time to first recurrence (TTFR), surgery for recurrence (including resection status), and additional therapy indicated that only two factors were significantly associated with shorter PFS [hazard ratio for progression: for TTFR ≤ 12 months, 1.8 (95% confidence interval = 1.3-2.6) vs. TTFR > 12 months; for macroscopically incomplete resection, 3.4 (1.5-7.9), and for no surgery, 3.4 (1.6-7.0) vs. microscopically complete (R0)-resection and OS [hazard ratio for death: for TTFR > 12 months, 3.1 (2.0-4.7) vs. TTFR ≤ 12 months; for macroscopically incomplete resection, 2.7 (1.1-6.9), and no surgery, 4.2 (1.8-9.6) vs. R0-resection]. Patients who had both TTFR over 12 months and R0-resection of recurrent tumors (n = 22) had the best prognosis (median PFS, 24 months; median OS, >60 months). CONCLUSIONS The best predictors of prolonged survival after first recurrence are TTFR over 12 months and R0-resection. Our data suggest that patients with longer TTFR and tumors amenable to radical resection should be operated, whereas individualized treatment decisions are needed for patients with short TTFR or with not completely resectable tumors.

Mitotane Inhibits Sterol-O-Acyl Transferase 1 Triggering Lipid-Mediated Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Apoptosis in Adrenocortical Carcinoma Cells

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy that harbors a dismal prognosis in advanced stages. Mitotane is approved as an orphan drug for treatment of ACC and counteracts tumor growth and steroid hormone production. Despite serious adverse effects, mitotane has been clinically used for decades. Elucidation of its unknown molecular mechanism of action seems essential to develop better ACC therapies. Here, we set out to identify the molecular target of mitotane and altered downstream mechanisms by combining expression genomics and mass spectrometry technology in the NCI-H295 ACC model cell line. Pathway analyses of expression genomics data demonstrated activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and profound alteration of lipid-related genes caused by mitotane treatment. ER stress marker CHOP was strongly induced and the two upstream ER stress signalling events XBP1-mRNA splicing and eukaryotic initiation factor 2 A (eIF2α) phosphorylation were activated by mitotane in NCI-H295 cells but to a much lesser extent in four nonsteroidogenic cell lines. Lipid mass spectrometry revealed mitotane-induced increase of free cholesterol, oxysterols, and fatty acids specifically in NCI-H295 cells as cause of ER stress. We demonstrate that mitotane is an inhibitor of sterol-O-acyl-transferase 1 (SOAT1) leading to accumulation of these toxic lipids. In ACC tissue samples we show variable SOAT1 expression correlating with the response to mitotane treatment. In conclusion, mitotane confers adrenal-specific cytotoxicity and down-regulates steroidogenesis by inhibition of SOAT1 leading to lipid-induced ER stress. Targeting of cancer-specific lipid metabolism opens new avenues for treatment of ACC and potentially other types of cancer.