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Olivier T, Prasad V. Molecular testing to deliver personalized chemotherapy recommendations: risking over and undertreatment. BMC Med 2022; 20:392. [PMID: 36348413 PMCID: PMC9644653 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02589-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In the adjuvant setting of cancer treatment, de-escalation strategies have the goal of omitting or minimizing treatment in patients, without compromising outcomes. Historically, eligibility for adjuvant treatment solely relied on the patient's clinical and tumor's pathological characteristics. At the turn of the century, based on new biological understanding, molecular-based strategies were tested and sometimes implemented. MAIN BODY However, we illustrate how molecularly based de-escalation strategies may paradoxically lead to overtreatment. This may happen when the novel approach is tested in lieu of standard management and may not yield the same results when being implemented in addition to usual practice. In the DYNAMIC trial, adjuvant chemotherapy decision in stage II colon cancer was compared between a circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-based approach and the standard care. We show this may result in more patients receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy and may expose a similar proportion of patients to chemotherapy if the novel strategy is implemented in addition to usual practice. The other potential risk is undertreatment. We provide an illustration of early breast cancer, where the decision of adjuvant chemotherapy based on the gene expression signature MammaPrint may lead to inferior outcomes as compared with the clinico-pathologic strategy. This may also happen when non-inferiority designs have large margins. Among solutions, it should be acknowledged that clinico-pathological features, like T4 in colon cancer, may not be abandoned and replaced by novel strategies in real-life practice. Therefore, novel strategies should be tested in addition to standard of care, and not in lieu of. Second, de-escalation trials should focus on the settings where the standard of care has a widespread agreement. This would avoid the risk of testing non-inferiority against an ineffective therapy, which guarantees successes without providing informative data. CONCLUSION Simply because a molecular test is rational does not mean it can improve patient outcomes. Here, we highlight how molecular test-based strategies may result in either overtreatment or undertreatment. In the rapidly evolving field of medicine, where technological advances may be transformative, our piece highlights scientific pitfalls to be aware of when considering running such trials or before implementing novel strategies in daily practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothée Olivier
- Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospital, 4 Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil Street, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, 550 16th St., 2nd Fl, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
| | - Vinay Prasad
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, 550 16th St., 2nd Fl, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
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Khaki AR, Li A, Diamantopoulos LN, Miller NJ, Carril-Ajuria L, Castellano D, De Kouchkovsky I, Koshkin V, Park J, Alva A, Bilen MA, Stewart T, Santos V, Agarwal N, Jain J, Zakharia Y, Morales-Barrera R, Devitt M, Nelson A, Hoimes CJ, Shreck E, Gartrell BA, Sankin A, Tripathi A, Zakopoulou R, Bamias A, Rodriguez-Vida A, Drakaki A, Liu S, Kumar V, Lythgoe MP, Pinato DJ, Murgic J, Fröbe A, Joshi M, Isaacsson Velho P, Hahn N, Alonso Buznego L, Duran I, Moses M, Barata P, Galsky MD, Sonpavde G, Yu EY, Shankaran V, Lyman GH, Grivas P. A New Prognostic Model in Patients with Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma Treated with First-line Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Eur Urol Oncol 2021; 4:464-472. [PMID: 33423945 PMCID: PMC8169524 DOI: 10.1016/j.euo.2020.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are approved in the first-line (1L) setting for cisplatin-unfit patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-high tumors or for platinum (cisplatin/carboplatin)-unfit patients, response rates remain modest and outcomes vary with no clinically useful biomarkers (except for PD-L1). OBJECTIVE We aimed to develop a prognostic model for overall survival (OS) in patients receiving 1L ICIs for advanced urothelial cancer (aUC) in a multicenter cohort study. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Patients treated with 1L ICIs for aUC across 24 institutions and five countries (in the USA and Europe) outside clinical trials were included in this study. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS We used a stepwise, hypothesis-driven approach using clinician-selected covariates to develop a new risk score for patients receiving ICIs in the 1L setting. Demographics, clinicopathologic data, treatment patterns, and OS were collected uniformly. Univariate Cox regression was performed on 18 covariates hypothesized to be associated with OS based on published data. Variables were retained for multivariate analysis (MVA) if they correlated with OS (p < 0.2) and were included in the final model if p < 0.05 on MVA. Retained covariates were assigned points based on the beta coefficient to create a risk score. Stratified median OS and C-statistic were calculated. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS Among 984 patients, 357 with a mean age of 71 yr were included in the analysis, 27% were female, 68% had pure UC, and 13% had upper tract UC. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥2, albumin <3.5 g/dl, neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio >5, and liver metastases were significant prognostic factors on MVA and were included in the risk score. C index for new 1L risk score was 0.68 (95% confidence interval 0.65-0.71). Limitations include retrospective nature and lack of external validation. CONCLUSIONS We developed a new 1L ICI risk score for OS based on data from patients with aUC treated with ICIs in the USA and Europe outside of clinical trials. The score components highlight readily available factors related to tumor biology and treatment response. External validation is being pursued. PATIENT SUMMARY With multiple new treatments under development and approved for advanced urothelial carcinoma, it can be difficult to identify the best treatment sequence for each patient. The risk score may help inform treatment discussions and estimate outcomes in patients treated with first-line immune checkpoint inhibitors, while it can also impact clinical trial design and endpoints. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: A new risk score was developed for advanced urothelial carcinoma treated with first-line immune checkpoint inhibitors. The score assigned Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥2, albumin <3.5 g/dl, neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio >5, and liver metastases each one point, with a higher score being associated with worse overall survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Raza Khaki
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ang Li
- Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Natalie J Miller
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Ivan De Kouchkovsky
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Vadim Koshkin
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Park
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Ajjai Alva
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Mehmet A Bilen
- Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tyler Stewart
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Victor Santos
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Neeraj Agarwal
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Jayanshu Jain
- Department of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Yousef Zakharia
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Rafael Morales-Barrera
- Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, Vall d' Hebron University Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Michael Devitt
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Ariel Nelson
- Division of Medical Oncology, Seidman Cancer Center at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Christopher J Hoimes
- Division of Medical Oncology, Seidman Cancer Center at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Evan Shreck
- Departments of Medical Oncology and Urology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin A Gartrell
- Departments of Medical Oncology and Urology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Alex Sankin
- Departments of Medical Oncology and Urology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Abhishek Tripathi
- Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Roubini Zakopoulou
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Alexandra General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece
| | - Aristotelis Bamias
- 2nd Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, ATTIKON University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece
| | - Alejo Rodriguez-Vida
- Medical Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alexandra Drakaki
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sandy Liu
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Vivek Kumar
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mark P Lythgoe
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - David J Pinato
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jure Murgic
- Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Center Sestre Milosrdnice, School of Dental Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ana Fröbe
- Department of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Center Sestre Milosrdnice, School of Dental Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Monika Joshi
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Penn State Cancer Institute, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Pedro Isaacsson Velho
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Noah Hahn
- Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Ignacio Duran
- Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla, IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
| | - Marcus Moses
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Pedro Barata
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Matthew D Galsky
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Guru Sonpavde
- Genitourinary Oncology Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Evan Y Yu
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Veena Shankaran
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Gary H Lyman
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Petros Grivas
- Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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