Pembrolizumab combined with lenvatinib as non-first-line therapy in patients with refractory biliary tract carcinoma

Background:A therapeutic strategy involving combined treatment with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab(LEP)has demonstrated a relatively high antitumor response in several solid tumors;however,the efficacy and safety of LEP in patients with refractory bile tract carcinoma(BTC)remains unknown.Methods:This is a single-arm study for a preliminary assessment of the efficacy and tolerability of LEP in patients who experienced progression from prior systemic treatments.Pre-treatment tumor tissues were collected to retrospectively evaluate the expression status of PDL1.Results:Thirty-two patients received second-line and above treatment with LEP.Overall,the objective response rate(ORR)was 25%,the disease control rate(DCR)was 78.1%,and the clinical benefit rate(CBR)was 40.5%.The median progression-free survival(PFS)was 4.9 months(95%CI:4.7–5.2 months),and the median overall survival(OS)was 11.0 months(95%CI:9.6–12.3 months).For tolerability,no grade 5 serious adverse events(AEs)were reported.All patients had any-grade AEs,and 59.3%of the patients experienced grade 3 AEs,while only 1 patient experienced a grade 4 AE of stomach bleeding.Fatigue was the most common AE,followed by hypertension and elevated aminotransferase levels.Retrospective analysis for PDL1 expression revealed that PDL1 positive tumor cells were associated with improved clinical benefits and survival outcomes.Conclusions:LEP is a promising alternative as a non-first-line therapeutic regimen for patients with refractory BTC.Furthermore,well-designed prospective clinical trials with a control arm are still needed to obtain more evidences to confirm the efficacy and safety of this particular regimen as well as the role of PDL1 expression.

Comprehensive molecular profiling of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in Chinese population and potential targets for clinical practice

Background:Cholangiocarcinoma(CCA)is a diverse group of malignancies arising from the intra-or extrahepatic biliary epithelium and characterized by its late diagnosis and fatal outcome.Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma(ECC)accounts for 90%of CCA.However,little is known about the comprehensive genomic alterations of ECC in Chinese population for providing clinical managements especially targeted therapy.Methods:Comprehensive genomic profiling(CGP)was performed with next generation sequencing panel on paraffin-embedded tumor from a cohort of 80 Chinese ECC patients.Results:The most frequently altered genes were TP53(68%),KRAS(46%),SMAD4(22%),ARID1A(20%)and CDKN2A(19%).Mutual exclusivity was observed between multiple genes including ARID1A:TP53,KRAS:LRP1B and NF2:TP53.Genetic alterations with potential therapeutic implications were identified in 43%of patients.The top three actionable alterations include CDKN2A(n=11),BRAF(n=5)and ERBB2(n=4).Potentially actionable alterations were mainly enriched in the G1-S transition,homologous recombination repair,MAPK/ERK pathway.Conclusions:This is the largest data set of ECC cases providing a comprehensive view on genetic alterations in Chinese population which differs significantly from a US cohort,and indicates the potential clinical implications for targeted therapies.