Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard of care for patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma. Pathologic downstaging to pT0/pTis after neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy is associated with improved survival, although molecular determinants of cisplatin response are incompletely understood. We performed whole-exome sequencing on pretreatment tumor and germline DNA from 50 patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma who received neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by cystectomy (25 pT0/pTis “responders,” 25 pT2+ “nonresponders”) to identify somatic mutations that occurred preferentially in responders. ERCC2, a nucleotide excision repair gene, was the only significantly mutated gene enriched in the cisplatin responders compared with nonresponders (q < 0.01). Expression of representative ERCC2 mutants in an ERCC2-deficient cell line failed to rescue cisplatin and UV sensitivity compared with wild-type ERCC2. The lack of normal ERCC2 function may contribute to cisplatin sensitivity in urothelial cancer, and somatic ERCC2 mutation status may inform cisplatin-containing regimen usage in muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma. Significance: Somatic ERCC2 mutations correlate with complete response to cisplatin-based chemosensitivity in muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, and clinically identified mutations lead to cisplatin sensitivity in vitro. Nucleotide excision repair pathway defects may drive exceptional response to conventional chemotherapy. Cancer Discov; 4(10); 1140–53. ©2014 AACR. See related commentary by Turchi et al., p. 1118 This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1103

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical cystectomy is the standard treatment for cisplatin-eligible patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Adding perioperative immunotherapy may improve outcomes. In this phase 3, open-label, randomized trial, we assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, cisplatin-eligible patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer to receive neoadjuvant durvalumab plus gemcitabine-cisplatin every 3 weeks for four cycles, followed by radical cystectomy and adjuvant durvalumab every 4 weeks for eight cycles (durvalumab group), or to receive neoadjuvant gemcitabine-cisplatin followed by radical cystectomy alone (comparison group). Event-free survival was one of two primary end points. Overall survival was the key secondary end point. In total, 533 patients were assigned to the durvalumab group and 530 to the comparison group. The estimated event-free survival at 24 months was 67.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 63.6 to 71.7) in the durvalumab group and 59.8% (95% CI, 55.4 to 64.0) in the comparison group (hazard ratio for progression, recurrence, not undergoing radical cystectomy, or death from any cause, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.82; P<0.001 by stratified log-rank test). The estimated overall survival at 24 months was 82.2% (95% CI, 78.7 to 85.2) in the durvalumab group and 75.2% (95% CI, 71.3 to 78.8) in the comparison group (hazard ratio for death, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.59 to 0.93; P = 0.01 by stratified log-rank test). Treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or 4 in severity occurred in 40.6% of the patients in the durvalumab group and in 40.9% of those in the comparison group; treatment-related adverse events leading to death occurred in 0.6% in each group. Radical cystectomy was performed in 88.0% of the patients in the durvalumab group and in 83.2% of those in the comparison group. Perioperative durvalumab plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy led to significant improvements in event-free survival and overall survival as compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. (Funded by AstraZeneca; NIAGARA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03732677; EudraCT number, 2018-001811-59.).

B7-H3 and B7x are recently discovered members of the B7-CD28 family thought to dampen peripheral immune responses via negative costimulation. We evaluated their potential expression in human prostate cancer using a large cohort of patients with 7 years of follow-up. We identified 823 patients with tissue available treated with radical prostatectomy between 1985 and 2003. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarray sections using anti-B7-H3 and -B7x. The percentage and intensity of immunoreactivity by tumor cells were blindly evaluated by two urological pathologists, and outcome analyses were conducted. Both B7-H3 and B7x were highly expressed; 93% and 99% of tumors had aberrant expression, respectively. The median percentage of tumor cells staining positive was 80% for each molecule. Strong intensity for B7-H3 and B7x was noted in 212 (26%) and 120 (15%) patients, respectively. Patients with strong intensity for B7-H3 and B7x were significantly more likely to have disease spread at time of surgery ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.005, respectively). Additionally, patients with strong intensity for B7-H3 and B7x were at significantly increased risk of clinical cancer recurrence ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.005) and cancer-specific death ( P = 0.004 and P = 0.04, respectively). To our knowledge, we present the largest investigation of B7 family molecules in a human malignancy and a previously undescribed evaluation of B7x in prostate cancer. B7-H3 and B7x are abundantly expressed in prostate cancer and associated with disease spread and poor outcome. Given the proposed immune-inhibitory mechanisms of B7-H3 and B7x, these molecules represent attractive targets for therapeutic manipulation in prostate cancer.

Approximately 50% of conventional inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) harbor ALK gene rearrangement and overexpress ALK. Recently, gene fusions involving other kinases have been implicated in the pathogenesis of IMT, including ROS1 and in 1 patient PDGFRB. However, it remains uncertain whether the emerging genotypes correlate with clinicopathologic characteristics of IMT. In this study, we expand the molecular investigation of IMT in a large cohort of different clinical presentations and analyze for potential genotype-phenotype associations. Criteria for inclusion in the study were typical morphology and tissue availability for molecular studies. The lack of ALK immunoreactivity was not an excluding factor. As overlapping gene fusions involving actionable kinases are emerging in both IMT and lung cancer, we set out to evaluate abnormalities in ALK, ROS1, PDGFRB, NTRK1, and RET by fluorescence in situ hybridization. In addition, next-generation paired-end RNA sequencing and FusionSeq algorithm was applied in 4 cases, which identified EML4-ALK fusions in 2 cases. Of the 62 IMTs (25 children and 37 adults), 35 (56%) showed ALK gene rearrangement. Of note, EML4-ALK inversion was noted in 7 (20%) cases, seen mainly in the lung and soft tissue of young children including 2 lesions from newborns. There were 6 (10%) ROS1-rearranged IMTs, all except 1 presenting in children, mainly in the lung and intra-abdominally and showed a distinctive fascicular growth of spindle cells with long cell processes, often positive for ROS1 immunohistochemistry. Two of the cases showed TFG-ROS1 fusions. Interestingly, 1 adult IMT revealed a RET gene rearrangement, a previously unreported finding. Our results show that 42/62 (68%) IMTs are characterized by kinase fusions, offering a rationale for targeted therapeutic strategies. Interestingly, 90% of fusion-negative IMTs were seen in adults, whereas >90% of pediatric IMT showed gene rearrangements. EML4-ALK inversion and ROS1 fusions emerge as common fusion abnormalities in IMT, closely recapitulating the pattern seen in lung cancer.

PURPOSE: To provide recommendations for the management of patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).METHODS: An Expert Panel conducted a systematic literature review to obtain evidence to guide treatment recommendations.RESULTS: The panel considered peer-reviewed reports published in English.RECOMMENDATIONS: The diagnosis of metastatic ccRCC should be made using tissue biopsy of the primary tumor or a metastatic site with the inclusion of markers and/or stains to support the diagnosis. The International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk criteria should be used to inform treatment. Cytoreductive nephrectomy may be offered to select patients with kidney-in-place and favorable- or intermediate-risk disease. For those who have already had a nephrectomy, an initial period of active surveillance may be offered if they are asymptomatic with a low burden of disease. Patients with favorable-risk disease who need systemic therapy may be offered an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) in combination with a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI); patients with intermediate or poor risk should be offered a doublet regimen (no recommendation was provided between ICIs or an ICI in combination with a VEGFR TKI). For select patients, monotherapy with either an ICI or a VEGFR TKI may be offered on the basis of comorbidities. Interleukin-2 remains an option, although selection criteria could not be identified. Recommendations are also provided for second- and subsequent-line therapy as well as the treatment of bone metastases, brain metastases, or the presence of sarcomatoid features. Participation in clinical trials is highly encouraged for patients with metastatic ccRCC. Additional information is available at www.asco.org/genitourinary-cancer-guidelines