Abstract 5559
Background
Immunotherapy with nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 blocking antibody, is clinically approved for the management of recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) but it benefits only a minority of patients. The phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 inhibitor tadalafil was found to lower intratumoral myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T cells in SCCHN patients. Here we describe exploratory analyses of immune-related gene expression correlates of nivolumab with or without concurrent administration of tadalafil administered for 4 weeks before planned surgical resection in the context of a completed randomized, window-of-opportunity trial.
Methods
RNA-seq was performed on pre- and post-treatment tumor tissues from 28 patients receiving either nivolumab alone (n = 12) or nivolumab and tadalafil (n = 16). RNA was sequenced (NextSeq 500) using 75bp paired-end chemistry at a depth of ∼50 million reads.
Results
Consistent with previous work, pretreatment biopsies of HPV(+) SCCHN (n = 19) were more strongly immune infiltrated when compared to HPV(-) (n = 9) cancers. Preliminary principal component analysis of pretreatment gene expression suggests that select transcripts related to T cells and inflammation were predicitve of clinical outcomes in HPV(+) SCCHN. Nivolumab treatment enhanced expression of a broad range of immune-related genes in both HPV(+) and HPV(-) SCCHNs and this signature was amplified by tadalafil. Whereas transcript patterns consistent with enhanced myeloid cell infiltration after treatment were observed in both, HPV(+) and HPV(-) HNSCCs, T cell gene expression signatures were more pronounced in HPV(+) cancers.
Conclusions
These results point to diverse intratumoral immune states triggered by nivolumab/tadalafil in HPV(+) when compared to HPV(-) SCCHNs. They challenge the notion that increased presence of intratumoral T lymphocytes alone is associated with favorable therapeutic responses to PD1 inhibition in SCCHN. Yet, select pretreatment transcripts associated with innate and/or adaptive immune responses may have prognostic relevance.
Clinical trial identification
NCT 03238365.
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Resources from the same session
3489 - Overall Survival (OS) and Metastasis-Free Survival (MFS) in men with Biochemically Relapsed (BCR) Prostate Cancer after radical prostatectomy (RP) managed with deferred Androgen Deprivation Treatment (ADT): A combined Johns Hopkins and CPDR study
Presenter: Catherine Marshall
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
4606 - ARCHES – the role of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with enzalutamide (ENZA) or placebo (PBO) in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC): Post hoc analyses of high and low disease volume and risk groups
Presenter: Arnulf Stenzl
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
2975 - Updated survival analyses of a multicentric phase II randomized trial of docetaxel (D) plus enzalutamide (E) versus docetaxel (D) as first line chemotherapy for patients (pts) with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) (CHEIRON study).
Presenter: Orazio Caffo
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
2708 - Real-world analysis of patients (pts) with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) receiving vs not receiving chemotherapy in the treatment sequence
Presenter: Alicia Morgans
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
2134 - Baseline fracture risk in men with prostate cancer starting the STAMPEDE trial
Presenter: Janet Brown
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
3504 - Risk of falls and fractures in patients with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with new hormonal agents – a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Presenter: Rodrigo Coutinho Mariano
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
2342 - Pain progression at initiation of chemotherapy in metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) is associated with a poor prognosis: a post-hoc analysis of FIRSTANA
Presenter: Nicolas Delanoy
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
5331 - Pain evaluation in patients (pts) with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with radium-223 (Ra-223) in the PARABO observation study
Presenter: Holger Palmedo
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
2823 - Time to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and the risk of developing immune disorders
Presenter: Vincenza Conteduca
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract
1500 - Retrospective evaluation of neutropenic admission events in metastatic or high-risk hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC) patients having docetaxel chemotherapy upfront or for castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in STAMPEDE
Presenter: Harriet Mintz
Session: Poster Display session 3
Resources:
Abstract