Illinois CancerCare

In this study, we evaluate the utility of ctDNA analysis in a large cohort of patients for whom ctDNA testing was ordered commercially with real-world application. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for assessing post-surgical molecular residual disease (MRD) and response to treatment. A real-world data analysis was performed using commercial ctDNA testing (SignateraTM) from patients (N=795, n=5,971 plasma samples) with stage I-III colon cancer treated at multiple US institutions. The association of ctDNA detection within the MRD window, during surveillance, and the impact of ACT was correlated with patient outcomes. ctDNA-positive patients during the MRD window and surveillance showed significantly shorter DFS compared to ctDNA-negative patients (hazard ratio (HR): 9.85, P<0.0001; HR: 26.91, P<0.0001). Multivariate analysis of the MRD window revealed ctDNA-positivity as the most significant factor associated with inferior DFS (adjHR: 7.7, P<0.001). MRD-positive patients who received ACT showed improved DFS compared to patients observed post-surgery (adjHR: 6.1, FDR adj P=0.0007). No ACT benefit was observed in MRD-negative patients (adj HR: 1.20, FDR adj P=0.768). On evaluating ctDNA dynamics from MRD to surveillance, patients who remained ctDNA-positive or converted from negative to positive showed a significantly inferior DFS (HR: 34.40, P<0.0001; HR: 13.65, P<0.0001) compared to persistently ctDNA-negative patients. Postsurgical ctDNA detection is prognostic of relapse and potentially predictive of ACT benefit in patients with resectable colon cancer, which may enable personalized surveillance, intervention, and/or trial options, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

7540 Background: The combination of a proteasome inhibitor (PI) with lenalidomide (R) and dex (d) has been a common initial therapy for newly diagnosed myeloma (NDMM). We designed a randomized phase 3 trial to examine if carfilzomib (K), a next generation PI, improved progression free survival (PFS) compared with bortezomib (V) when either is combined with Rd for initial treatment of NDMM. Initial analysis at a median follow up of 15.3 months (mos) showed comparable PFS for both triplets. We present the long-term results of the trial with ~70 months median follow up. Methods: Patients (Pts) with NDMM, were randomized 1:1 to receive VRd or KRd for 36 weeks followed by a 2 nd randomization (1:1) to indefinite versus 2 yrs of R maintenance. Pts without del17p, t(14;16), t(14;20), plasma cell leukemia or high-risk GEP70 profile, were enrolled. VRd arm included V 1.3 mg/m 2 on days(d) 1, 4, 8, and 11 (d1, 8 for cycles 9-12), R 25 mg d1-14, and d 20 mg d1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 of a 3-week (wk) cycle for 12 cycles, while pts in the KRd arm received K 36 mg/m 2 d1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16 with R 25 mg daily on d1-21 and d 40 mg wkly, in 4 wk cycles for 9 cycles. Maintenance used 15 mg R d1-21 q4 wks. Results: The study accrued 1087 pts (VRd=542, KRd=545). Median age was 65y; baseline characteristics including intent to transplant were similar across the arms. Median induction duration (mos; IQR) was 7.2 (3.4-8.9) and 8.4 (5.1-9.1) for VRd and KRd, respectively; 59.8% in VRd and 45.3% in KRd did not proceed to Step 2. Median PFS (mos) was VRd=41.9 and KRd=44.6; HR = 0.89 (0.76-1.04). Toxicity data, PFS sensitivity analyses and OS probabilities are as in the table. Conclusions: In this randomized trial, with median follow up of nearly 6 years, KRd and VRd had comparable PFS and OS in an intent to treat analysis. While similar numbers proceeded to SCT in the 2 arms, more did so during induction in the VRd arm while more patients in the KRd arm went to SCT later. VRd remains a standard triplet induction regimen in standard and intermediate risk NDMM, and a suitable backbone for 4 drug combinations. Clinical trial information: NCT01863550 . N (%) VRd(n=527) KRd(n=526) SCT anytime 186 (34.3) 183 (33.6) SCT without Step 2 registration 146 112 Median Time to SCT (mos; range) 7.7 (3.5-83.9) 10.6 (3.7-70.6) Grade 3-4 Treatment-Related Toxicity 315 (59.8) 344 (65.4) Grade 5 Treatment-Related Toxicity 2 (0.4) 9 (1.7) Grade 5 All Events 11 (2.1) 20 (3.8) Survival outcomes HR Median (95% CI) Median (95% CI) PFS Primary: PD or death within 3 months of last evaluation as events 0.89(0.76-1.04) 41.9(35.7, 50.3) 44.6(38.2, 51.9) PFS Sensitivity: All deaths as events, 0.87(0.75-1.02) 39.5(34.9, 46.0) 42.8(37.4, 49.7) PFS Sensitivity: Censor at alternate Rx 0.83(0.69-0.99) 35.0(31.3, 42.6) 38.7(34.7, 49.0) PFS Sensitivity: Event at alternate Rx 0.84(0.73-0.97) 18.0(14.2, 23.0) 24.4(20.9, 27.9) Overall survival 0.92(0.75-1.12) 119(100, NE) 118(103-NE)

Observational studies have demonstrated that aspirin and/or PTSG2 inhibitor (e.g., celecoxib) use, before or after colon cancer (CC) diagnosis, is associated with a lower risk of recurrence. However, a randomized trial of adjuvant celecoxib therapy in stage III CC did not show improved survival compared to placebo treatment. We therefore hypothesized that immune microenvironment features may identify patient subgroups with stronger survival benefits from anti-inflammatory celecoxib treatment. Drawing from an NCI-Intergroup trial (Cancer and Leukemia Group B [now Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology]/SWOG 80702) for patients with stage III resected CC that compared 3 versus 6 months of adjuvant fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin ± 3 years of celecoxib, we conducted tissue-based tumor microenvironment profiling on 1,098 resected tumors using a custom 9-plex, T-cell multiplex immunofluorescence assay coupled with digital image analysis and supervised machine learning. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to describe disease-free survival, based on T cell density, and log-rank testing was performed. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine unadjusted and adjusted associations between T cell density and disease-free survival (DFS). Two-sided P values ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant. We found that higher CD3+ T cell density was associated with longer DFS with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52-0.91) for patients with densities in the highest tertile as compared the lowest tertile (P=0.01). T cell subset analysis showed that stromal regulatory T helper cells (HR 0.42 comparing highest to lowest tertile, CI 0.31-0.58, P&amp;lt;0.001) and stromal memory cytotoxic T cells (HR 0.55 comparing highest to lowest tertile, CI 0.42-0.74, P&amp;lt;0.001) were most strongly associated with longer DFS. Compared to the placebo group, adjuvant celecoxib use associated with improved DFS for patients with low but not high stromal CD3+ T cell density (adjusted HRs of 0.45 [CI 0.31-0.65] for lowest tertile and 1.13 [CI 0.73-1.74] for highest tertile; Pinteraction=0.01). This association was also seen when the analysis was restricted to microsatellite stable tumors (HR 0.50 [CI 0.32-0.80] for lowest density tertile and 1.50 [CI 0.87-2.59] for highest density tertile; Pinteraction=0.01). T cell subset analysis showed that DFS benefit for celecoxib use most strongly associated with stromal memory helper T cell density (HR 0.38 [CI 0.26-0.56] for lowest density tertile and 1.26 [CI 0.80-1.97] for highest density tertile; Pinteraction&amp;lt;0.001). Together, these results show that while higher T cell infiltration is associated with improved DFS, lower T cell infiltration is associated with improved DFS for patients treated with celecoxib. This unexpected finding may inform immunomodulatory treatment strategies for CC. Citation Format: Yasutoshi Takashima, Chao Ma, Qian Shi, Andressa Dias Costa, Tyler Twombly, Juha P. Väyrynen, Melissa Zhao, Ardaman Shergill, Pankaj Kumar, Felix Couture, Philip Kuebler, Smitha Krishnamurthi, Benjamin Tan, Eileen M. O'Reilly, Anthony F. Shields, Shuji Ogino, Charles S. Fuchs, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Jonathan A. Nowak. Prognostic and predictive role of T cell infiltration in stage III colon cancer (CC) treated with celecoxib: CALGB/SWOG 80702 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 5858.

Survivors of rectal cancer experience persistent bowel dysfunction after treatments. Dietary interventions may be an effective approach for symptom management and posttreatment diet quality. SWOG S1820 was a pilot randomized trial of the Altering Intake, Managing Symptoms in Rectal Cancer (AIMS-RC) intervention for bowel dysfunction in survivors of rectal cancer. Ninety-three posttreatment survivors were randomized to the AIMS-RC group (N=47) or the Healthy Living Education attention control group (N=46) after informed consent and completion of a prerandomization run-in. Outcome measures were completed at baseline and at 18 and 26weeks postrandomization. The primary end point was total bowel function score, and exploratory end points included low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) score, quality of life, dietary quality, motivation, self-efficacy, and positive/negative affect. Most participants were White and college educated, with a mean age of 55.2years and median time since surgery of 13.1months. There were no statistically significant differences in total bowel function score by group, with the AIMS-RC group demonstrating statistically significant improvements in the exploratory end points of LARS (p=.01) and the frequency subscale of the bowel function index (p=.03). The AIMS-RC group reported significantly higher acceptability of the study. SWOG S1820 did not provide evidence of benefit from the AIMS-RC intervention relative to the attention control. Select secondary end points did demonstrate improvements. The study was highly feasible and acceptable for participants in the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program. Findings provide strong support for further refinement and effectiveness testing of the AIMS-RC intervention.