The impact of sex and age on distribution of metastases in patients with renal cell carcinoma

[Gender-/Sex-Specific Differences in Clinical Trials in Uro-Oncology]

Subgroup analyses in clinical trials sometimes reveal gender-/sex-dependent differences in cancer outcomes. However, drug approvals are rarely restricted to a specific sex or gender, and recommendations regarding dosage are rarely tailored accordingly. Furthermore, discrepancies exist between the gender-/sex-dependent enrollment rates in clinical trials and real-world incidence or mortality rates. This article highlights gender-/sex differences in clinical trials in uro-oncology.

High Prognostic Value of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT in Renal Cell Carcinoma and Association with PSMA Expression Assessed by Immunohistochemistry

In oligo-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), neither computed tomography (CT) nor bone scan is sensitive enough to detect small tumor deposits hampering early treatment and potential cure. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in the neo-vasculature of numerous malignant neoplasms, including RCC, that can be targeted by positron emission tomography (PET) using PSMA-targeting radioligands. Our aim was to investigate whether PSMA-expression patterns of renal cancer in the primary tumor or metastatic lesions on immunohistochemistry (IHC) are associated with PET/CT findings using [68Ga]-PSMA-HBED-CC (PSMA-PET/CT). We then analyzed the predictive and prognostic role of the PSMA-PET/CT signal. In this retrospective single-center study we included patients with renal cancer submitted to PSMA-PET/CT for staging or restaging, with tumor specimens available for PSMA-IHC. Clinical information (age, tumor type, and grade) and IHC results from the primary tumor or metastases were collected. The intensity of PSMA expression at IHC was scored into four categories: 0: none; 1: weak; 2: moderate; 3: strong. PSMA expression was also graded according to the proportion of vessels involved (PSMA%) into four categories: 0: none; 1: 1-25%; 2: 25-50%; 3: >50%. The intensity of PSMA expression and PSMA% were combined in a three-grade score: 0-2 absent or mildly positive, 3-4 moderately positive, and 5-6 strongly positive. PSMA scores were used for correlation with PSMA-PET/CT results. Results: IHC and PET scans were available for the analysis in 26 patients (22 ccRCC, 2 papillary RCC, 1 chromophobe, 1 "not otherwise specified" RCC). PSMA-PET/CT was positive in 17 (65%) and negative in 9 patients (35%). The mean and median SUVmax in the target lesion were 34.1 and 24.9, respectively. Reporter agreement was very high for both distant metastasis location and local recurrence (kappa 1, 100%). PSMA-PET detected more lesions than conventional imaging and revealed unknown metastases in 4 patients. Bone involvement, extension, and lesion number were greater than in the CT scan (median lesion number on PET/CT 3.5). The IHC PSMA score was concordant in primary tumors and metastases. All positive PSMA-PET/CT results (15/22 ccRCC, 1 papillary cancer type II, and 1 chromofobe type) were revealed in tumors with strong or moderate PSMA combined scores (3-4 and 5-6). In ccRCC tissue samples, PSMA expression was strong to moderate in 20/22 cases. The SUVmax values correlated to the intensity of PSMA expression which were assessed using IHC (p = 0.01), especially in the ccRCC subgroup (p = 0.009). Median survival was significantly higher in patients with negative PSMA-PET/CT (48 months) compared to patients with a positive scan (24 months, p= 0.001). SUVmax ≥ 7.4 provides discrimination of patients with a poor prognosis. Results of PSMA-PET/CT changed treatment planning. Conclusions: in renal cancer, positive PSMA-PET/CT is strongly correlated to the intensity of PSMA expression on immunohistochemistry in both ccRCC and chromophobe cancer. PSMA-PET/CT signal predicts a poor prognosis confirming its potential as an aggressiveness biomarker and providing paramount additional information influencing patient management.

Impact of sex on the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in kidney and urothelial cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

To analyze and summarize the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) alone or in combination therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and urothelial carcinoma (UC) stratified by sex.

METHODS

Three databases were queried in October 2022 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) analyzing RCC and UC patients treated with ICIs. We analyzed the association between sex and the efficacy of ICIs in RCC and UC patients across several clinical settings. The outcomes of interest were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival for the metastatic setting and disease-free survival (DFS) for the adjuvant setting.

RESULTS

Overall, 16 RCTs were included for meta-analyses and network meta-analyses. In the first-line treatment of metastatic RCC (mRCC) and UC (mUC) patients, ICI-based combination therapies significantly improved OS compared to the current standard of care, regardless of sex. Adjuvant ICI monotherapy reduced the risk of disease recurrence in female patients with locally advanced RCC (pooled hazard ratio [HR]: 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.93) but not in male patients, and, conversely, in male patients with muscle-invasive UC (pooled HR: 0.80, 95%CI 0.68-0.94) but not in female patients. Treatment ranking analyses in the first-line treatment of mRCC and mUC showed different results between sexes. Of note, regarding adjuvant treatment for RCC, pembrolizumab (99%) had the highest likelihood of improved DFS in males, whereas atezolizumab (84%) in females.

CONCLUSIONS

OS benefit of first-line ICI-based combination therapy was seen in mRCC and mUC patients regardless of sex. Sex-based recommendations for ICI-based regimens according to the clinical setting may help guide clinical decision-making.

Peritoneal Metastases from Extraperitoneal Primary Tumors: Incidence, Treatment, and Survival from a Nationwide Database

The objective of this study was to assess the incidence, treatment, and survival of patients with synchronous peritoneal metastases (PM) from extraperitoneal primary tumors. A cohort was selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR), in which all patients diagnosed with PM in 2017 and 2018 were screened for eligibility. The five most common primary extraperitoneal origins of PM were included for further analyses: lung, breast, urinary tract, and kidney cancer and malignant melanoma. Survival was investigated using log-rank test between different primary tumor locations. In total, 480 patients were diagnosed with synchronous PM from extraperitoneal origins. The proportion of patients with PM per extraperitoneal origin ranged between 0.1 and 1.1%, with the highest proportion in lung cancer patients. Of all patients, 234 (49%) received tumor-directed treatment and 246 (51%) received no tumor-directed treatment. Survival in patients with PM from lung, breast, urinary tract, and kidney cancer and malignant melanoma was 1.6 months, 15.7 months, 5.4 months, 3.4 months, and 2.1 months, respectively (p < 0.001). In this study, a small, although significant number of patients with extraperitoneal cancer developed PM. The reported survival in patients with PM ranged between 1.6 and 15.7 months. Only half of the patients with PM received tumor-directed treatment and survival in patients without tumor-directed treatment was only 1.2 months. These findings are stressing the need to explore new diagnostic tools that may enable earlier diagnosis of PM and may potentially lead to a more effective treatment.

A population-based investigation: How to identify high-risk T1-2N0 esophageal cancer patients?

Purpose

Newly diagnosed T1-2N0 esophageal cancer (EC) is generally deemed as early local disease, with distant metastases (DM) easily overlooked. This retrospective study aimed to describe the metastatic patterns, identify risk factors and established a risk prediction model for DM in T1-2N0 EC patients.

Methods

A total of 4623 T1-2N0 EC patients were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database from 2004 to 2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for DM. A nomogram was developed for presentation of the final model.

Results

Of 4623 T1-2N0 patients, 4062 (87.9%) had M0 disease and 561 (12.1%) had M1 disease. The most common metastatic site was liver (n = 156, 47.3%), followed by lung (n = 89, 27.0%), bone (n = 70, 21.2%) and brain (n = 15, 4.5%). Variables independently associated with DM included age at diagnosis, gender, tumor grade, primary site, tumor size and T stage. A nomogram based on the variables had a good predictive accuracy (area under the curve: 0.750). Independent risk factors for bone metastases (BoM), brain metastases (BrM), liver metastases (LiM) and lung metastases (LuM) were identified, respectively.

Conclusions

We identified independent predictive factors for DM, as well as for BoM, BrM, LiM and LuM. Above all, a practical and convenient nomogram with a great accuracy to predict DM probability for T1-2N0 EC patients was established.