Current treatment guidelines for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) recommend multimodal treatment, including chemoradiation therapy (CRT) or surgery followed by radiation, with or without chemotherapy. The immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab has previously demonstrated antitumor activity in recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC in large Phase III trials. For patients with locally advanced disease, Phase Ib data on the use of pembrolizumab in combination with chemoradiation have shown the approach to be safe and feasible. We describe here the design and rationale for KEYNOTE-412, a randomized, double-blind, Phase III trial investigating pembrolizumab or placebo administered concurrently with CRT and as maintenance treatment in patients with locally advanced HNSCC. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03040999 ( ClinicalTrials.gov ).

Neutropenia secondary to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients can be life-threatening and there are no biomarkers available to predict the risk of drug-induced neutropenia in those patients. We previously performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for neutropenia events in women with breast cancer who were treated with 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide and recruited to the SUCCESS-A trial. A genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) signal in the tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 13B (TNFSF13B) gene, encoding the cytokine B-cell activating factor (BAFF), was identified in that GWAS. Taking advantage of these existing GWAS data, in the present study we utilized a pathway-based analysis approach by leveraging knowledge of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs and breast cancer pathophysiology to identify additional SNPs/genes associated with the underlying etiology of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. We identified three SNPs in the hyaluronan mediated motility receptor (HMMR) gene that were significantly associated with neutropenia (p < 1.0E-04). Those three SNPs were trans-expression quantitative trait loci for the expression of TNFSF13B (p < 1.0E-04). The minor allele of these HMMR SNPs was associated with a decreased TNFSF13B mRNA level. Additional functional studies performed with lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) demonstrated that LCLs possessing the minor allele for the HMMR SNPs were more sensitive to drug treatment. Knock-down of TNFSF13B in LCLs and HL-60 promyelocytic cells and treatment of those cells with BAFF modulated the cell sensitivity to chemotherapy treatment. These results demonstrate that HMMR SNP-dependent cytotoxicity of these chemotherapeutic agents might be related to TNFSF13B expression level. In summary, utilizing a pathway-based approach for the analysis of GWAS data, we identified additional SNPs in the HMMR gene that were associated with neutropenia and also were correlated with TNFSF13B expression.

Infantile myofibromatosis (IM) is characterized by solitary musculoskeletal nodules presenting during infancy but can manifest as multiple lesions with visceral involvement. Multicentric IM with visceral involvement carries a high risk of mortality and there is no consensus on treatment. We present a case of a patient with multicentric IM and pulmonary involvement who progressed on several chemotherapeutic regimens and subsequently had a complete response to sorafenib and later imatinib. This report describes the novel use of sorafenib and imatinib to treat generalized IM and the role of continued tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy to maintain remission.

TPS6090 Background: Evidence of efficacy and pathological response at the time of surgery was reported in two phase 2 studies (NCT02296684 and NCT02641093) of preoperative pembrolizumab in patients with high-risk, resectable, locally advanced (LA) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The randomized, open-label, phase 3 KEYNOTE-689 trial ( NCT03765918) will evaluate efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab as neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy in combination with SOC (radiotherapy ± cisplatin) in patients with previously untreated, resectable LA HNSCC. Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed LA HNSCC will be randomly assigned 1:1 to two treatment arms. Patients in arm A will receive neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (200 mg Q3W for two cycles) followed by surgical resection then SOC plus adjuvant pembrolizumab (15 cycles). Patients in arm B will undergo only surgical resection followed by adjuvant SOC. Eligibility criteria will include age ≥18 years; newly diagnosed, resectable, stage III/IVA HNSCC (AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, 8th edition); and ECOG performance status 0-1. Randomization will be stratified by primary tumor site (oropharynx/oral cavity vs larynx vs hypopharynx), tumor stage (III vs IVA), and HPV p16 status (oropharynx p16 positive vs oropharynx p16 negative or larynx/hypopharynx/oral cavity). Treatment will continue until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or decision to withdraw. Patients in arm A will undergo the first radiologic imaging assessment after two cycles of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and before surgery. In both arms, postoperative imaging will be performed 12 weeks after SOC, then every 3 months until the end of year 3, and then every 6 months until the end of year 5. Dual primary end points are major pathological response, defined as ≤10% invasive squamous cell carcinoma within resected primary tumor and sampled regional lymph nodes per blinded central pathology, and event-free survival. Secondary end points include overall survival, pathological complete response, and safety and tolerability. Recruitment is ongoing and will continue until ~600 patients are enrolled. Clinical trial information: NCT03765918.