Publications by authors named "Ecaterina E Dumbrava"

Here we report results of a phase 1 multi-institutional, open-label, dose-escalation trial (NCT02744287) of BPX-601, an investigational autologous PSCA-directed GoCAR-T® cell product containing an inducible MyD88/CD40 ON-switch responsive to the activating dimerizer rimiducid, in patients with metastatic pancreatic (mPDAC) or castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Primary objectives were to evaluate safety and tolerability and determine the recommended phase 2 dose/schedule (RP2D). Secondary objectives included the assessment of efficacy and characterization of the pharmacokinetics of rimiducid.

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Immune checkpoint blockade targeting the novel targets of the lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG3) and the T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif domains (TIGIT) has marked a significant advancement in oncology, offering new therapeutic opportunities to fight diverse malignancies. This review covers the biological basis and clinical application of LAG3 and TIGIT inhibitors, highlighting pivotal trials and therapeutic outcomes. We underscore the use of dual therapy immune checkpoint blockade in enhancing antitumor immunity, particularly in settings where monotherapy has shown limited efficacy.

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Purpose: Treatment options for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and a programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor are limited. Trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2) is highly expressed in HNSCC. Sacituzumab govitecan (SG) is a Trop-2-directed antibody-drug conjugate approved for patients with certain previously treated solid tumors.

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  • PD-1 inhibition shows effectiveness in treating patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors; however, routine testing for dMMR using immunohistochemistry (IHC) is not common across different tumor types.
  • A study involving over 15,000 solid tumor patients demonstrated that next-generation sequencing (NGS) can help identify mutations in MMR genes, revealing a correlation with IHC results in those tested.
  • The findings indicate that patients with MMR mutations showed a significant rate of dMMR, highlighting the potential benefits of employing IHC testing on patients with identified MMR mutations to optimize treatment options.
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  • - BMS-986156 is a new treatment that enhances T-cell activation and, when combined with other therapies like ipilimumab and nivolumab, shows promise in controlling tumors in advanced solid cancers.
  • - The study enrolled 50 patients with stage IV cancers resistant to standard treatments, dividing them into three groups receiving varying combinations of BMS-986156, ipilimumab, or nivolumab, with and without stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR).
  • - Results indicated that the combination therapies were generally well tolerated, though 44% of patients experienced treatment-related adverse events, with 12% having more severe events, such as increased liver enzyme levels.
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  • Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can help doctors detect and treat liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without having to do surgery or other invasive tests.!
  • A study looked at ctDNA from 44 HCC patients to see if it could predict how long they would live and how well they would respond to a treatment called nivolumab.!
  • The results showed that certain mutations in ctDNA were linked to shorter or longer survival times, suggesting ctDNA testing could help doctors make better treatment decisions for HCC patients in the future.!
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Purpose: Patients with advanced endometrial cancer (EC) who progress on or after platinum-based therapy and immunotherapy have poor prognosis. We report efficacy and safety of sacituzumab govitecan (SG), a trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2)-directed antibody-drug conjugate, in patients with advanced EC.

Methods: TROPiCS-03 (ClinicalTrials.

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Worldwide, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in women, with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) being the most aggressive molecular subtype. Due to the dearth of effective therapeutic options for TNBC, novel agents targeting key mechanisms and pathways in cancer cells are continuously explored; these include ATR inhibitors, which target the ATR kinase involved in the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway, and CHK1/2 inhibitors, which target the Checkpoint Kinase 1/2 (CHK1/2) involved in cell cycle arrest and DNA repair. ATR and CHK1/2 inhibitors show potential as prospective treatments for TNBC by focusing on the DDR and interfering with cell cycle regulation in cancer cells.

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Unlabelled: Zanidatamab is a bispecific human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted antibody that has demonstrated antitumor activity in a broad range of HER2-amplified/expressing solid tumors. We determined the antitumor activity of zanidatamab in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models developed from pretreatment or postprogression biopsies on the first-in-human zanidatamab phase I study (NCT02892123). Of 36 tumors implanted, 19 PDX models were established (52.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study was a phase I trial focusing on the safety, pharmacokinetics, and effectiveness of tinengotinib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.
  • Forty-eight patients participated, with a recommended daily dose established at 12 mg; common side effects included hypertension and a specific skin condition.
  • Preliminary results showed that tinengotinib was well tolerated and 30.2% of patients experienced clinical benefits, including some with specific types of cancer, suggesting potential effectiveness.
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Background: Immune checkpoint blockade has shown mixed results in advanced/recurrent gynecologic malignancies. Efficacy may be improved through costimulation with OX40 and 4-1BB agonists. The authors sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of avelumab combined with utomilumab (a 4-1BB agonist), PF-04518600 (an OX40 agonist), and radiotherapy in patients with recurrent gynecologic malignancies.

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  • PARP inhibitors (PARPi) are becoming standard treatments in oncology, particularly for different types of breast cancer, but there’s a need for better ways to identify which patients will respond to these treatments.
  • The case study highlights a 57-year-old woman with hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who benefited from talazoparib due to her specific genetic mutation.
  • This scenario underscores the significance of a multidisciplinary approach to manage patients with brain metastases and emphasizes the role of personalized treatment based on biomarkers.
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TROP2 antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are under active development. We seek to determine whether we can enhance activity of TROP2 ADCs by increasing TROP2 expression. In metaplastic breast cancers (MpBC), there is limited expression of TROP2, and downregulating transcription factor ZEB1 upregulates E-cad and TROP2, thus sensitizing cancers to TROP2 ADC sacituzumab govitecan (SG).

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We sought to assess discordance of HER2 status in patients with HER2-amplified/expressing solid tumors who underwent reevaluation of HER2 status. Patients with metastatic solid tumors and HER2 expression by IHC or amplification by FISH/next-generation sequencing on local testing underwent central HER2 IHC/FISH testing with either archival or fresh biopsies and were evaluated for discordance in HER2 status. 70 patients (12 cancer types) underwent central HER2 reevaluation, including 57 (81.

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Purpose: Cyclin E (CCNE1) has been proposed as a biomarker of sensitivity to adavosertib, a Wee1 kinase inhibitor, and a mechanism of resistance to HER2-targeted therapy.

Experimental Design: Copy number and genomic sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and MD Anderson Cancer Center databases were analyzed to assess ERBB2 and CCNE1 expression. Molecular characteristics of tumors and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) were assessed by next-generation sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and IHC.

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Introduction: We aimed to identify clinical, pathologic, and treatment factors that are predictive of response and survival in patients with cervical cancer referred to phase I clinical trials.

Methods: Patients with cervical cancer who received at least one dose of a phase I investigational agent at our institution between 2014 and 2022 were included. The log-rank test was used to analyze differences in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and multivariable regression analysis was performed.

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Although targeting oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is a rational anticancer strategy, clinical benefit with OXPHOS inhibitors has yet to be achieved. Here we advanced IACS-010759, a highly potent and selective small-molecule complex I inhibitor, into two dose-escalation phase I trials in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (NCT02882321, n = 17) and advanced solid tumors (NCT03291938, n = 23). The primary endpoints were safety, tolerability, maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of IACS-010759.

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Purpose: Preclinical cancer models harboring amplification were more sensitive to adavosertib treatment, a WEE1 kinase inhibitor, than models without amplification. Thus, we conducted this phase II study to assess the antitumor activity of adavosertib in patients with -amplified, advanced refractory solid tumors.

Patients And Methods: Patients aged ≥ 18 years with measurable disease and refractory solid tumors harboring amplification, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, and adequate organ function were studied.

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Background: Advanced practice providers (APPs) play important roles in enrolling, educating, and caring for patients in clinical trials. However, much remains unknown about the role of APPs in managing adverse events (AEs) in early (phase I to II) clinical trials. In this study, we assessed the outpatient management of grade 3 to 4 AEs by APPs in early trials and characterized the workflow of our APP Phase I to II Fast Track (FT) Clinic.

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Background: ADP-A2M10 specific peptide enhanced affinity receptor (SPEAR) T-cells are genetically engineered autologous T-cells that express a high-affinity melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE)-A10-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) targeting MAGE-A10-positive tumors in the context of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02. ADP-0022-004 is a phase 1, dose-escalation trial to evaluate the safety and anti-tumor activity of ADP-A2M10 in three malignancies (https://clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02989064).

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Background: Crizotinib inhibits ALK, MET and ROS1 tyrosine kinases but the development of resistance to monotherapy is an issue. The anti-angiogenic properties of pazopanib could overcome crizotinib drug resistance. Additionally, the anti-angiogenic properties of crizotinib could augment the clinical efficacy of pazopanib.

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Purpose: As hypoxia can mediate resistance to immunotherapy, we investigated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of combining evofosfamide, a prodrug that alleviates hypoxia, with ipilimumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, in immunologically "cold" cancers, which are intrinsically insensitive to immunotherapy, as well as in "hot/warm" metastatic cancers that are, atypical of such cancers, resistant to immunotherapy.

Patients And Methods: In a phase I, 3+3 dose-escalation trial (NCT03098160), evofosfamide (400-640 mg/m) and ipilimumab (3 mg/kg) were administered in four 3-week cycles. The former was administered on days 1 and 8 of cycles 1-2, while the latter was administered on day 8 of cycles 1-4.

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