Renata Chloupková

Thyroid transcription factor 1 expression is associated with outcome of patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy

Pemetrexed is an antifolate cytostatic agent targeting several folate-dependent enzymatic pathways, widely used in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic stage non-small cell lung cancer. Aside from the non-squamous histology, there is still no available molecular biomarker predicting treatment efficacy of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the association of thyroid transcription factor 1 expression with outcome of a large cohort of patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer treated with pemetrexed. We retrospectively analysed clinical data of 463 patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (IIIB or IV) treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Thyroid transcription factor 1 expression was assessed using indirect immunohistochemical detection in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissue at the time of diagnosis. Thyroid transcription factor 1 expression was detected in the tumour tissue from 76.0% of patients, and tumours from 24.0% of patients were thyroid transcription factor 1 negative. The median progression-free survival and overall survival for patients with thyroid transcription factor 1 positive tumours were 4.8 and 11.8 months compared to 2.8 and 8.3 months for those with thyroid transcription factor 1 negative tumours (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001). The multivariable Cox proportional hazards model revealed that thyroid transcription factor 1 expression was significantly associated with progression-free survival (hazard ratio = 1.57, p < 0.001) and also with overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.73, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the results of the conducted retrospective study suggest that the thyroid transcription factor 1 expression was independently associated with progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with advanced-stage non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.

Outcomes of Patients With Long-Term Treatment Response to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Targeted Therapy for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer

Micro‐Abstract Although targeted therapies are the mainstay of treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma there are limited data on the outcomes of patients with long‐term responses. We report the outcomes of a registry‐based study of patients continuously treated with first‐line targeted therapy for at least 24 months. There were clinically important differences in survival between patients who achieved complete response and those with partial response or stable disease. These differences had not been described before and are important for treatment optimization of this patient subgroup. Background: Although targeted therapies with inhibitors of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are the mainstay of treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, there are limited data on the outcome of patients with long‐term response to this treatment. Patients and Methods: In a retrospective, registry‐based study, patients continuously treated with first‐line anti‐VEGF agents for at least 24 months were included. In total, 219 patients had evaluable data and were included in the outcome analysis. Results: Median progression‐free survival (PFS) after initiation of first‐line targeted therapy was 39.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 35.9‐43.5 months), with 5‐year PFS of 34.2% (95% CI, 27.2%‐41.2%). Median overall survival (OS) reached 79.1 months (95% CI, 65.2‐93.0 months) with the 5‐year OS of 62.1% (95% CI, 54.5%‐69.7%). In this cohort, 28, 103, and 88 patients achieved complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) as the best response, respectively. Median PFS and OS were comparable in patients with PR and SD, but significantly longer in patients with CR (log rank test P value for PFS difference < .001 and .009 for OS difference). Conclusion: There are marked differences in PFS and OS between patients who receive long‐term anti‐VEGF treatment, achieving CR and non‐CR as the best clinical response. Patients with non‐CR experienced a relatively high progression rate shortly after the landmark time point of 2 years.

Effects of Treatment with Crizotinib on Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma with ALK Translocation in the Czech Republic

BACKGROUND Patients with advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) -positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may gain significant benefit from treatment with the first-generation ALK inhibitor crizotinib. This study investigated the effects of crizotinib in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC patients via analyzing data submitted to the TULUNG registry by pneumo-oncology centers in the Czech Republic. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed the data of 60 NSCLC patients submitted to the TULUNG registry by pneumo-oncology centers who had ALK translocation confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and complete data records from 2011 to 2017. RESULTS The median age of patients was 58 years. A total of 53% of patients were men, 90% had adenocarcinomas, 61.7% were smokers or ex-smokers, and 65% had a performance status of 0. Upon initiation of crizotinib therapy, most patients were at stage IV (88.3%) and the remainder were at stage IIIA or IIIB. Crizotinib was the second-line therapy in 71.7% of patients. A total of 20% of patients suffered side effects, while 11.7% suffered grade 3 and 4 adverse effects. A total of, 6.7, 25, 21.7, and 25% of patients displayed a complete response, a partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease, resp. Progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months. Overall survival (OS) was 27.9 months from the initiation of the first-line therapy and 12.6 from the initiation of crizotinib therapy. PFS and OS were longer among nonsmokers and ex-smokers than among smokers (PFS, 9.7 vs. 5.8 vs. 3.8 months, p = 0.029; OS, 26.8 vs. 15.3 vs. 7.0 months, p = 0.015). CONCLUSION Targeted crizotinib therapy is well tolerated and has significant benefit in patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC. Although international guidelines recommend that crizotinib is only used as a first-line therapy, it is used as a second-line and higher-line therapy in the Czech Republic. Clinical studies provide evidence that targeted therapy elicits better effects and less toxicity than routine chemotherapy. Key words: ALK translocation - crizotinib - targeted biological therapy - tyrosine kinase inhibitors This work was supported by AZV grant No. 17- 30748A. The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers. Submitted: 17. 1. 2018 Accepted: 20. 2. 2018.

Prognostic role of serum C-reactive protein in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with pemetrexed

Pemetrexed is an intravenously administered antifolate cytostatic agent targeting several folate-dependent enzymatic pathways, widely used in the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It has been previously demonstrated that the superiority of pemetrexed is limited to patients with non-squamous histology. Aside from the non-squamous histology, there is still no available molecular biomarker predicting treatment efficacy of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the association of baseline serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) with outcomes in a large cohort of patients with non-squamous NSCLC treated with pemetrexed. Clinical data of 325 patients were analysed. Serum samples were collected within one week before the initiation of treatment. The median progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with high CRP was 2.1 and 9.5 compared to 4.2 and 20.5 months for those with normal CRP (p=0.002 and p<0.001, respectively). The multivariable Cox proportional hazards model revealed that serum CRP (HR=1.46, p=0.002) was significantly associated with PFS and also with OS (HR=1.95, p<0.001). In conclusion, the study results suggest that pretreatment serum CRP is associated with poor outcome of non-squamous NSCLC patients treated with pemetrexed.