Biomarker analyses from the phase III CheckMate 214 trial of nivolumab plus ipilimumab (N+I) or sunitinib (S) in advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC).
Robert J. Motzer, Toni K. Choueiri, David F. McDermott, Thomas Powles, Jin Yao, Ron Ammar, Simon Papillon‐Cavanagh, Shruti Shally Saggi, Brent McHenry, Petra Ross‐Macdonald, Megan Wind‐Rotolo
Abstract
5009 Background: In CheckMate 214 (NCT02231749), N+I demonstrated superior clinical outcomes vs S in patients (pts) with aRCC. Here, we report exploratory biomarker analyses of pretreatment tumor samples relative to outcomes. Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded aRCC samples were characterized by immunohistochemistry (tumor programmed death ligand 1 [PD-L1], n = 992; PD-L1 combined positive score [CPS], n = 980), whole exome sequencing (WES; tumor mutational burden, indel burden, HLA class I zygosity, and PBRM1 mutation status; n = 481), and RNAseq (n = 213). Gene signature scores were calculated as the median value of Z-scored expression for transcripts. Association with outcome was tested using Fisher’s exact test and Cox proportional hazards model. With ≥ 42 mo follow-up, prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) with N+I ( < or ≥ 18 mo; n = 82 vs 27, respectively) was analyzed by limma and gene set enrichment analysis of Hallmark gene sets (MSigDB). Results: PD-L1 CPS did not have improved predictive power over tumor PD-L1. The WES-derived biomarkers were not associated with outcomes in pts treated with N+I or S. For the RNAseq cohort, objective response rates (ORR) for pts with ≥ median scores, and hazard ratios (HR) relative to < median are shown (Table). A higher angiogenesis (Angio) gene signature score was associated with higher ORR and PFS for S; lower Angio score was associated with higher ORR in N+I. Immune signature scores were not predictive for ORR in N+I. Prolonged PFS with N+I (≥ 18 mo, n = 27) was associated with higher expression of Hallmark inflammatory response and Hallmark epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene sets (both adjusted P = 0.002). Conclusions: The Angio gene signature was associated with ORR for S (high score) and N+I (low score). Prolonged PFS in 27 pts receiving N+I was linked with inflammation (consistent with findings from PD-1 blockade monotherapy), but associated with EMT-related transcripts (in contrast with findings in other tumor types). Further validation of these exploratory analyses will be required. Clinical trial information: NCT02231749 . [Table: see text]