1864 patients were enrolled to be screened, of whom NGS was available for 1672. 73% of the sequenced tumor samples were archival and 27% were fresh biopsies; there were no significant differences in prevalence of genetic alterations between these. MEGSA identified two non-overlapping sets of mutually exclusive gene alterations with a false discovery rate (FDR) < 15%: NFE2L2, KEAP1 and PARP4 (FDR ¼ 4.1%) and CDKN2A and RB1 (FDR ¼ 13.1%). Mutual exclusivity of NFE2L2 and KEAP1 alterations has been previously observed, e.g., in TCGA, however mutual exclusivity of PARP4 and NFE2L2 or KEAP1 alterations is a novel finding. SELECT identified 41 pairs of mutually exclusive and 95 pairs of co-occurring gene alterations. Top significant co-occurring pairs that appeared in this dataset but not TCGA include CDKN2A and TP53, KRAS and STK11, HGF and MLL2, PDGFRB and SMARCA4, NFE2L2 and TP53, ATRX and RUNX1T1, GRIN2A and NCOR1, and MCL1 and MYCN. Male sex and smoking history were associated with poorer survival. When these and other clinical covariates were incorporated in Cox proportional hazards models, there were no individual genetic variants that were associated with survival; however, NFE2L2 and KEAP1 alterations when taken together were associated with poorer survival. Conclusion: This analysis of the Lung-MAP S1400 NGS data features a substantially larger sample size than any previously published dataset of squamous cell lung cancers, although it is limited to genes sequenced on the FoundationOne T5 platform. Compared to TCGA, this dataset features a homogeneous set of subjects all with previously treated advanced disease and enrolled on a clinical trial. Novel findings, including mutual exclusivity of PARP4 and NFE2L2 or KEAP1 alterations, suggest that PARP4 may have a hitherto undiscovered role in a key pathway known to impact responses to oxidative stress and treatment resistance.

NI combination therapy. Of the 5 patients who derived clinical benefit (defined as best response of PR, or ongoing PR/SD at 6 months), 4 were T790M negative. Incidence of pneumonitis was 3.2% (n¼1, G1). Other toxicities include IDDM (n¼1), polymyositis (n¼1), hypothyroidism (n¼2), transaminitis (n¼1) and rash (n¼5). There were no G3-5 toxicities. We next interrogated the immune landscape of EGFR TKI resistant NSCLC, and examined the impact of ipilumumab-nivolumab. 4/23 (17.4%) baseline samples were GEP high (2/4 were T790M positive), with enrichment for exhausted CD8, Treg and overexpression of IDO1. Of these 4 patients, 2 derived clinical benefit to N monotherapy. In sequential biopsies before and after exposure to checkpoint inhibitors, increase in infiltrating CD8 T cells was associated with clinical benefit. Conclusion: While there were no significant toxicity concerns with combination checkpoint inhibition in TKI-resistant EGFR mutant NSCLC, durable response was not demonstrated in our study. High GEP alone did not seem to predict for response to checkpoint inhibitors in EGFR mutant NSCLC, possibly due an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

BackgroundDuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB (GEN1046) is a class-defining, bispecific immunotherapy designed to induce an antitumor immune response by simultaneous and complementary PD-L1 blockade and conditional 4-1BB stimulation. Encouraging clinical activity and manageable safety were observed during dose escalation in the ongoing phase 1/2a trial in patients with advanced solid tumors (NCT03917381). We report exploratory pharmacodynamic analyses and potential biomarkers of response in an expansion cohort of patients with PD-(L)1–R/R NSCLC.MethodsPatients with metastatic/unresectable NSCLC who had multiple lines of prior systemic therapy, including a checkpoint inhibitor, received flat-dose DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB (100 mg) intravenously every 3 weeks. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood and measurements of soluble immune mediators were evaluated in serial blood samples in cycles 1–2. Tumor PD-L1 and 4-1BB expression and additional immune markers were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in core needle tumor biopsy specimens collected before treatment and at cycle 2.ResultsAs of May 2021, 40 patients with PD-(L)1–R/R NSCLC were enrolled (median age, 63 years). Treatment with DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB elicited pharmacodynamic modulation of immune endpoints within the first 2 cycles. Induction of peripheral IFN-y, CXCL9/10, and expansion of peripheral CD8+ effector memory T cells and activated NK cells were observed starting at cycle 1 (>2-fold from baseline) and maintained or increased through cycle 2. Based on 9 paired tumor biopsy samples, increased PD-L1 and 4-1BB expression and cytotoxic CD8+/GZMB+ cell density were detected following treatment. In a subset of patients with clinical response (n=5 confirmed PRs), a trend of greater induction of IFN-y, CXCL9/10, and activated NK cells was observed vs nonresponders. Disease control rates were higher in patients who had progressed on prior anti–PD-1 therapy within 8 months (64% [16/25]) from the first dose of DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB. As expected, among patients with evaluable baseline tumors (n=26), most with any degree of tumor reduction (best change, <0%) harbored PD-L1+ tumors (≥1% tumor positive score; 7/10) and showed close spatial proximity between PD-L1+ and 4-1BB+ cells. Conversely, most patients without any degree of tumor reduction presented with PD-L1− tumors (12/16).ConclusionsIn patients with NSCLC who progressed on PD-(L)1 therapy, DuoBody-PD-L1×4-1BB elicited pharmacodynamic effects consistent with its proposed mechanism of action. Relationships between disease control and PD-L1 tumoral expression, as well as time from last prior anti–PD-1 therapy, were observed. These findings support that patient selection and/or anti–PD-1 combination therapy may lead to improved clinical efficacy. Further analyses are ongoing and updated results will be presented.AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Hrefna Kristin Johannsdottir, Lei Pang, and Kate Sasser at Genmab A/S and Friederike Gieseke at BioNTech SE for their valuable contributions. This trial was funded by Genmab A/S and BioNTech SE.Trial RegistrationNCT03917381Ethics ApprovalThis trial is undertaken following full approval of the final protocol, amendments, informed consent form, applicable recruiting materials, and subject compensation programs by the Independent Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board.ConsentWritten informed consent, in accordance with principles that originated in the Declaration of Helsinki 2013, current ICH guidelines including ICH-GCP E6(R2), applicable regulatory requirements, and sponsor policy, was provided by the patients.

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BackgroundCV8102 is a non-coding, non-capped RNA complexed with a carrier peptide activating the innate (via TLR7/8, RIG-I) and adaptive immune system.1 2 An ongoing phase I trial is investigating the intratumoral (i.t.) administration of CV8102 in patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma (cMEL), squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (cSCC) or head and neck (hnSCC) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), either as a single agent or in combination with systemic anti-PD-1 antibodies. Preliminary immune profiling results will be reported.MethodsAn open-label, cohort-based, dose escalation and expansion study in patients with advanced cMEL, cSCC, hnSCC or ACC is ongoing investigating CV8102 i.t. as single agent and in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies. Eight i.t. injections of CV8102 were administered over a 12 week period with optional continuing treatment in case of clinical benefit. In the initial dose escalation part, the recommended phase II dose for subsequent cohort expansion was defined. Blood samples for immune cell phenotyping, RNA sequencing (RNAseq) and serum cytokine/chemokine analysis were collected at baseline and multiple time points during the treatment period. For characterization of the tumor microenvironment (TME), optional core needle biopsies of injected and/or non-injected lesions were taken before, during and after treatment. Changes on various tumor-infiltrating immune cells were assessed by multiplex immunofluorescence (MultiOmyx < sup >TM</sup > ) and immune-related gene expression profiling using nCounter® Pan Cancer IO360 < sup >TM</sup > panel (NanoString).ResultsDuring the dose escalation part, 33 patients received CV8102 (dose range of 25–900 µg) as single agent and 25 patients received CV8102 in combination with an anti-PD-1 antibody. A dose of 600 µg was selected as recommended phase II dose. Serum cytokine/chemokine and blood RNAseq analysis showed transient increases in several markers like interferons alpha and gamma after the first dose. First analyses of paired biopsies showed changes in the TME of injected and non-injected lesions. Complete results of cytokine and chemokine analysis in serum and blood RNAseq for the dose escalation cohorts will be presented. Multiplex immunofluorescence and gene expression profiling from paired biopsies from individual patients will be also included.ConclusionsIntratumoral injection of CV8102 activated several cytokine/chemokine pathways in the peripheral blood and showed immunological changes in the tumor microenvironment of injected and non-injected lesions.Trial RegistrationNCT03291002ReferencesZiegler A, Soldner C, Lienenklaus S, Spanier J, Trittel S, Riese P, Kramps T, Weiss S, Heidenreich R, Jasny E, Guzmán CA, Kallen KJ, Fotin-Mleczek M, Kalinke U. A New RNA-Based Adjuvant Enhances Virus-Specific Vaccine Responses by Locally Triggering TLR- and RLH-Dependent Effects. J Immunol 2017;198(4):1595–1605. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601129.Heidenreich R, Jasny E, Kowalczyk A, Lutz J, Probst J, Baumhof P, Scheel B, Voss S, Kallen KJ, Fotin-Mleczek M. A novel RNA-based adjuvant combines strong immunostimulatory capacities with a favorable safety profile. Int J Cancer 2015 Jul 15;137(2):372–84. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29402.Ethics ApprovalThe study was approved by the Central Ethics Committees in Tuebingen, Germany under 785/2016AMG1, in France by the COMITE DE PROTECTION DES PERSONNES SUD-EST I under 2019–49, approval dated 17-May-2019, in Barcelona, Spain by the CEC COMITÉ DE ÉTICA DE INVESTIGACIÓN CLÍNICA CON MEDICAMENTOS del Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, approval date 28-Nov-2019 under the EUdraCT number, in Austria by the Central Ethics Committee in Graz under 31–426 ex 18/19 approved on 19-Sep-2019.ConsentWritten informed consent from the patient was obtained for publication of this abstract and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor of this journal.