Melina E. Marmarelis

Persistent inflammation driven by cytokines such as type-one interferon (IFN-I) can cause immunosuppression. We show that administration of the Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor itacitinib after anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immunotherapy improves immune function and antitumor responses in mice and results in high response rates (67%) in a phase 2 clinical trial for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Patients who failed to respond to initial anti-PD-1 immunotherapy but responded after addition of itacitinib had multiple features of poor immune function to anti-PD-1 alone that improved after JAK inhibition. Itacitinib promoted CD8 T cell plasticity and therapeutic responses of exhausted and effector memory-like T cell clonotypes. Patients with persistent inflammation refractory to itacitinib showed progressive CD8 T cell terminal differentiation and progressive disease. Thus, JAK inhibition may improve the efficacy of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy by pivoting T cell differentiation dynamics.

For patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), dual immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) with CTLA4 inhibitors and PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors (hereafter, PD-(L)1 inhibitors) is associated with higher rates of anti-tumour activity and immune-related toxicities, when compared with treatment with PD-(L)1 inhibitors alone. However, there are currently no validated biomarkers to identify which patients will benefit from dual ICB1,2. Here we show that patients with NSCLC who have mutations in the STK11 and/or KEAP1 tumour suppressor genes derived clinical benefit from dual ICB with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab and the CTLA4 inhibitor tremelimumab, but not from durvalumab alone, when added to chemotherapy in the randomized phase III POSEIDON trial3. Unbiased genetic screens identified loss of both of these tumour suppressor genes as independent drivers of resistance to PD-(L)1 inhibition, and showed that loss of Keap1 was the strongest genomic predictor of dual ICB efficacy—a finding that was confirmed in several mouse models of Kras-driven NSCLC. In both mouse models and patients, KEAP1 and STK11 alterations were associated with an adverse tumour microenvironment, which was characterized by a preponderance of suppressive myeloid cells and the depletion of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, but relative sparing of CD4+ effector subsets. Dual ICB potently engaged CD4+ effector cells and reprogrammed the tumour myeloid cell compartment towards inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-expressing tumoricidal phenotypes that—together with CD4+ and CD8+ T cells—contributed to anti-tumour efficacy. These data support the use of chemo-immunotherapy with dual ICB to mitigate resistance to PD-(L)1 inhibition in patients with NSCLC who have STK11 and/or KEAP1 alterations. Alterations in the tumour suppressor genes STK11 and/or KEAP1 can identify patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who are likely to benefit from combinations of PD-(L)1 and CTLA4 immune checkpoint inhibitors added to chemotherapy.

Importance: For patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with frontline immunotherapy-based treatment, the optimal duration of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment is unknown. Objective: To assess practice patterns surrounding ICI treatment discontinuation at 2 years and to evaluate the association of duration of therapy with overall survival in patients who received fixed-duration ICI therapy for 2 years vs those who continued therapy beyond 2 years. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective, population-based cohort study included adult patients in a clinical database diagnosed with advanced NSCLC from 2016 to 2020, who received frontline immunotherapy-based treatment. The data cutoff was August 31, 2022; data analysis was conducted from October 2022 to January 2023. Exposures: Treatment discontinuation at 2 years (between 700 and 760 days, fixed duration) vs continued treatment beyond 2 years (greater than 760 days, indefinite duration). Main Outcomes and Measures: Overall survival from 760 days was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods. Multivariable Cox regression that adjusted for patient-specific and cancer-specific factors was used to compare survival beyond 760 days between the fixed-duration group and the indefinite-duration group. Results: Of 1091 patients in the analytic cohort who were still on ICI treatment at 2 years after exclusion criteria for death and progression were applied, 113 patients (median [IQR] age, 69 [62-75] years; 62 [54.9%] female; 86 [76.1%] White) were in the fixed-duration group, and 593 patients (median [IQR] age, 69 [62-76] years; 282 [47.6%] female; 414 [69.8%] White) were in the indefinite-duration group. Patients in the fixed-duration group were more likely to have a history of smoking (99% vs 93%; P = .01) and be treated at an academic center (22% vs 11%; P = .001). Two-year overall survival from 760 days was 79% (95% CI, 66%-87%) in the fixed-duration group and 81% (95% CI, 77%-85%) in the indefinite-duration group. There was no statistically significant difference in overall survival between patients in the fixed-duration and indefinite-duration groups, either on univariate (hazard ratio [HR] 1.26; 95% CI, 0.77-2.08; P = .36) or multivariable (HR 1.33; 95% CI, 0.78-2.25; P = .29) Cox regression. Approximately 1 in 5 patients discontinued immunotherapy at 2 years in the absence of progression. Conclusions and Relevance: In a retrospective clinical cohort of patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with immunotherapy and were progression-free at 2 years, approximately only 1 in 5 discontinued treatment. The lack of statistically significant overall survival advantage for the indefinite-duration cohort on adjusted analysis provides reassurance to patients and clinicians who wish to discontinue immunotherapy at 2 years.

PURPOSE Phase III studies of intravenous amivantamab demonstrated efficacy across epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR )–mutated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A subcutaneous formulation could improve tolerability and reduce administration time while maintaining efficacy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with EGFR -mutated advanced NSCLC who progressed after osimertinib and platinum-based chemotherapy were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive subcutaneous or intravenous amivantamab, both combined with lazertinib. Coprimary pharmacokinetic noninferiority end points were trough concentrations (C trough ; on cycle-2-day-1 or cycle-4-day-1) and cycle-2 area under the curve (AUC D1-D15 ). Key secondary end points were objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS). Overall survival (OS) was a predefined exploratory end point. RESULTS Overall, 418 patients underwent random assignment (subcutaneous group, n = 206; intravenous group, n = 212). Geometric mean ratios of C trough for subcutaneous to intravenous amivantamab were 1.15 (90% CI, 1.04 to 1.26) at cycle-2-day-1 and 1.42 (90% CI, 1.27 to 1.61) at cycle-4-day-1; the cycle-2 AUC D1-D15 was 1.03 (90% CI, 0.98 to 1.09). ORR was 30% in the subcutaneous and 33% in the intravenous group; median PFS was 6.1 and 4.3 months, respectively. OS was significantly longer in the subcutaneous versus intravenous group (hazard ratio for death, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.92; nominal P = .02). Fewer patients in the subcutaneous group experienced infusion-related reactions (IRRs; 13% v 66%) and venous thromboembolism (9% v 14%) versus the intravenous group. Median administration time for the first infusion was reduced to 4.8 minutes (range, 0-18) for subcutaneous amivantamab and to 5 hours (range, 0.2-9.9) for intravenous amivantamab. During cycle-1-day-1, 85% and 52% of patients in the subcutaneous and intravenous groups, respectively, considered treatment convenient; the end-of-treatment rates were 85% and 35%, respectively. CONCLUSION Subcutaneous amivantamab-lazertinib demonstrated noninferiority to intravenous amivantamab-lazertinib, offering a consistent safety profile with reduced IRRs, increased convenience, and prolonged survival.

102 Background: Addition of pembrolizumab (P) to platinum-doublet chemotherapy [carboplatin (or cisplatin) and pemetrexed (CP)] prolongs overall survival and is a standard of care (SOC) for the 1 st line treatment of metastatic EGFR/ALK wild-type (wt) non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (mnsNSCLC). Despite widespread adoption of the CPP regimen, molecular determinants of clinical benefit from the addition of P to CP remain poorly defined. We previously identified genomic alterations in STK11/LKB1 as a major driver of primary resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in mnsNSCLC. Here, we examine the impact of STK11/LKB1 alterations on clinical outcomes with CPP chemo-immunotherapy. Methods: 497 pts with mnsNSCLC and tumor genomic profiling encompassing STK11/LKB1 from 17 academic institutions in the US and Europe were included in this study. Clinical outcomes were collected for two distinct patient cohorts: a) 377 pts treated with first-line CPP (or > 1 st line following FDA-approved TKIs) that were alive for 14 days thereafter and b) 120 STK11/LKB1-mt pts that received CP prior to regulatory approval of CPP. Results: Among 377 CPP-treated pts, STK11/LKB1 genomic alterations (N = 102) were associated with significantly shorter PFS (mPFS 4.8m vs 7.2m, HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.0; P = 0.0063) and shorter OS (mOS 10.6m vs 16.7m, HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.27; P = 0.0083) compared with STK11/LKB1-wt tumors (N = 275). ORR also differed significantly between the two groups (32.6% vs 44.7%, P = 0.049). Similar results were obtained when limiting the analysis to EGFR and ALK-wt tumors (N = 333). Importantly, in pts with STK11/LKB1-mt mnsNSCLC, addition of pembrolizumab to CP did not improve PFS (mPFS 4.8m vs 4.3m, HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.54, P = 0.75) or OS (mOS 10.6m vs 10.3m, HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.49, P = 0.79) compared to CP alone. Conclusions: In mnsNSCLC, STK11/LKB1 alterations define a subgroup of pts with inferior clinical outcomes with CPP and lack of benefit from the addition of pembrolizumab to CP chemotherapy. Novel therapeutic strategies are required to establish effective antitumor immunity in STK11/LKB1-mutant NSCLC.