Overall survival (OS) and pathologic response rate from a phase II clinical trial of neoadjuvant GVAX pancreas vaccine (with cyclophosphamide) in combination with nivolumab and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) followed by definitive resection for patients with borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma (BR-PDAC).

Authors

Parul Agarwal

Parul Agarwal

Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Parul Agarwal , Hanfei Qi , Kabeer Munjal , Jessica Gai , Anna Ferguson , Rose Parkinson , Jeanne Harrison , Christina Rodriguez , Robert A. Anders , Elizabeth D. Thompson , Richard Burkhart , Jin He , Amol Narang , Ana De Jesus-Acosta , Lei Zheng , Elizabeth M. Jaffee , Ben George , Daniel A. Laheru , Mark Yarchoan , Arsen Osipov

Organizations

Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, Samuel Oschin Cancer Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Research Funding

Institutional Funding
Skip Viragh Foundation, James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Foundation, United Company Foundation, Bristol Meyers Squibb

Background: The optimal management of BR-PDAC remains undefined due to the high rate of local progression and/or metastasis with upfront surgery alone. Given the limited activity of single agent PD-1 blockade in PDAC, combination strategies aimed at increasing high-avidity T-cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are under investigation. GVAX is an allogenic, whole cell, GM-CSF-secreting vaccine that activates T-cell immunity against tumor-associated antigens. Prior work has shown that GVAX in combination with low-dose cyclophosphamide (Cy) can inhibit T-regulatory cells and induce both PD-L1 expression and the formation of tertiary lymphoid aggregates. This multi-center phase II clinical trial evaluates the safety and clinical efficacy of the addition of GVAX/Cy/nivolumab and SBRT to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with BR-PDAC. Methods: Patients received neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine/abraxane if intolerant to mFOLFIRINOX. Two to six weeks after chemotherapy, the first dose combination immunotherapy with Cy (200 mg/m2), nivolumab (240mg) and GVAX (5 x 108 vaccine cells) was given. Three weeks later, patients received the second dose of combined immunotherapy concurrently with SBRT (6.6 Gy x 5 days) prior to surgical resection. The primary endpoint is CD8+ T-cell density (CD8) in surgical specimens compared with CD8 in historical control samples treated with neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX and SBRT only. Additional endpoints include pathologic response rates, adverse events (AEs) as graded by NCI CTCAE version 4.03, OS, and evaluation of immune changes to the TME. Results: 31 patients were enrolled from 2/2/2018 to 7/27/2021. Of these, 18 patients received at least one dose of combination immunotherapy. Following study treatment, one patient had progressive disease, three had occult intra-operative metastatic disease and 14 underwent definitive surgical resection (13 R0 resections and one R1 resection). The major pathologic response rate was 35% (defined as <10% residual viable tumor), including one pathologic complete response (pCR). At a median follow-up of 20.5 months, median OS was 20.4 months (95% CI 18.2, NA). There were two grade 3 or higher AEs (one case of nivolumab-related autoimmune hepatitis and one case of SBRT-related pancytopenia). Conclusions: The addition of combined immunotherapy and SBRT to chemotherapy was safe and feasible in BR-PDAC. Observed median OS, pCR and R0 resection rates were comparable to contemporary studies administering neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX and SBRT. Additional immune correlative data will be available and reported at the time of the conference, guiding future applications of novel vaccine approaches. Clinical trial information: NCT03161379.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Gastrointestinal Cancer—Gastroesophageal, Pancreatic, and Hepatobiliary

Track

Gastrointestinal Cancer—Gastroesophageal, Pancreatic, and Hepatobiliary

Sub Track

Pancreatic Cancer - Local-Regional Disease

Clinical Trial Registration Number

NCT03161379

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr e16309)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e16309

Abstract #

e16309

Abstract Disclosures