Jeff Evans

• Director of Institute / Professor of Translational Cancer Researc at University of Glasgow

Background: Dendrimer nanoparticles enable prolonged cytotoxic drug targeting to tumors. DEP SN38 is a water-soluble version of SN38, the active metabolite of irinotecan, attached to a dendrimer, so avoiding usual metabolic pathways of conventional irinotecan (c-IRI). This phase 1/2 (P1/2) trial evaluated safety, tolerability and efficacy of DEP SN...

4094 Background: In REFLECT, LEN had superior ORR and PFS versus SOR in pts with uHCC ( P<0.0001); OS was noninferior. In this post-hoc analysis, we determined baseline mutation (MUT) status by plasma ctDNA and analyzed its association with clinical outcomes. Methods: In REFLECT, pts with untreated uHCC received either LEN 8 or 12 mg daily or SOR 4...

9597 Background: The highly selective, oral allosteric modulator of PI3Kδ, roginolisib (IOA-244), blocks the activity of PI3Kδ-dependent signaling, in both tumor cells and Tregs. Methods: Continuous daily dosing of roginolisib at 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg in patients (pts) with pretreated solid tumours and Follicular Lymphoma (FL) were evaluated (Part A...

TPS3170 Background: CV6-168 is a FIC DNA uracilation agent targeting the enzyme dUTPase with high specificity. CV6-168 induces misincorporation of uracil into DNA when combined with thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors resulting in significantly increased DNA damage and lethality in cancer cells and activation of immune stimulatory mechanisms. CV6-...

476 Background: Fostrox is an orally administered troxacitabine-based nucleotide prodrug in clinical development in combination with lenvatinib (NCT03781934). Fostrox is rapidly metabolized by human hepatocytes, directing high levels of the active metabolite to the liver. Phase I fostrox monotherapy demonstrated selective intra-tumoral activity in...

324 Background: TIGIT is a novel inhibitory immune checkpoint on activated T cells and NK cells. Tira (anti-TIGIT) may synergize with other immunotherapies, e.g. PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors. The MORPHEUS platform comprises multiple phase Ib/II trials to identify early efficacy signals and safety of treatment (tx) combinations across cancers. We report in...

2502 Background: AhR activation is involved in tumor growth, immunomodulation, and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors. BAY2416964 is a novel, potent, oral AhR inhibitor (AhRi) that antagonizes AhR ligand-induced immunosuppressive effects, resulting in enhanced proinflammatory activity of antigen-presenting cells and T cells and reduced acti...

2044 Background: Lisavanbulin (BAL101553, prodrug of BAL27862) destabilizes microtubules and promotes tumor cell death by modulating the spindle assembly checkpoint. BAL27862 is a lipophilic small molecule shown in rodents to penetrate the brain, with antitumor activity in orthotopic glioblastoma (GBM) models. In the Phase 1 part of this study ¹ (N...

3110 Background: The highly selective oral allosteric modulator of PI3Kδ, roginolisib (IOA-244), blocks the activity of PI3Kδ -dependent signalling, in both tumour cells and Tregs. Methods: Part A explored the continuous daily dosing of roginolisib at 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg in patients (pts) with solid tumours and Follicular Lymphoma (FL). Part B con...

TPS631 Background: HCC is increasing rapidly in incidence worldwide driven by a rise in chronic liver disease including non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH). Most pts are not suitable for curative or loco-regional treatments and may be candidates for systemic therapies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with VEGF inhibition is a standard of ca...

Despite progress in genomic characterization, no single prognostic marker that can be evaluated using an easy-to-perform and relatively inexpensive method is available for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). MicroRNAs, which are stable, tumor- and tissue-specific molecules, are potentially ideal biomarkers, and we established an inter-laborato...

9584 Background: All immune therapies that rapidly activate T cells, including T cell engagers, can induce cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Tebentafusp (tebe), a T cell receptor bispecific (gp100 x CD3) can also induce skin adverse events (AEs), due to gp100+ cutaneous melanocytes. CRS and skin AEs may require management with short term corticoster...

3107 Background: T regulatory (Tregs) cells contribute to immune suppression in cancer. The highly selective inhibitor of PI3Kδ, IOA-244, blocks the activity of Tregs among other things, thus reprograms the anti-tumor immune response. Methods: IOA-244 was investigated in a two-part FIH study. Part A explored the continuous daily dosing of IOA-244 a...

104 Background: Tebe is a T-cell receptor bispecific (gp100 x CD3) against gp100 peptide-HLA-A2 complexes that are overexpressed in uveal (UM)/cutaneous melanoma (CM). Tebe is the only therapy to show an OS benefit (HR 0.51) in a phase (Ph) 3 trial in previously untreated metastatic UM. In a prior Ph 1 trial, tebe demonstrated monotherapy activity...

4078 Background: In REFLECT, lenvatinib was noninferior to sorafenib based on overall survival in pts with uHCC (median 13.6 vs 12.3 mos; hazard ratio [HR] 0.92, 95% CI 0.79–1.06). The objective response rate (ORR) with lenvatinib was 18.8% by blinded independent imaging review (IIR) per RECIST v1.1; ORR was 40.6% by blinded IIR per mRECIST. Here w...

3103 Background: CDC7, a protein with key roles in regulating cell-cycle progression is often over-expressed in malignant cells, particularly those with TP53 mutations. LY3143921, an orally administered ATP-competitive CDC7 inhibitor, demonstrated favorable pre-clinical anti-cancer activity in colorectal cancer (CRC) and squamous non-small cell lun...

TPS2691 Background: Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene B (CBL-B) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase expressed in multiple immune cell lineages, which in contrast to cell surface immune checkpoints, acts as a regulator of both T and NK cell activation. Inhibition of CBL-B enhances T-cell response, increases response to suboptimal priming, and restores...

3014 Background: The oncogenic transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) promotes tumor survival and proliferation and inhibits differentiation. ST101 is a peptide antagonist of C/EBPβ, with anti-tumor activity in prostate cancer (PC), glioblastoma (GBM), breast cancer (BC), melanoma, and other pre-clinical models. Methods: Thi...

TPS363 Background: ADP-A2M4CD8 is an autologous specific peptide enhanced affinity receptor (SPEAR) mixed CD4 and CD8 T-cell product that expresses an engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) designed to target the MAGE-A4 antigen in HLA-A*02-positive patients. These SPEAR T-cells also express wild-type CD8α co-receptors, designed to provide additional fun...

390 Background: Sorafenib, lenvatinib and regorafenib have proven efficacy in patients with HCC in randomised clinical trials. First line sorafenib significantly improves overall survival (OS) and disease control rates vs. placebo (SHARP) whilst lenvatinib (REFLECT) is non-inferior to sorafenib in terms of OS. Second line regorafenib improves OS ve...

427 Background: Derazantinib, a potent anti- FGFR1-3 oral kinase inhibitor, has shown clinically meaningful anti-tumor activity (21%), durable responses (median, 6.4 months), and progression-free survival (median, 8.0 months) in patients (pts) with FGFR2 fusion (FGFR2 F )-positive intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), and with a manageable toxici...

TPS221 Background: Despite recent advances, effective treatment for GI cancers remains a significant unmet medical need. Gremlin-1 is secreted by the peri-tumoral stroma and down-regulates bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) -2, -4, and -7 (members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily), thereby allowing malignant cell expansion, renewal, a...

TPS2068 Background: Lisavanbulin (BAL101553, prodrug of BAL27862) is a novel tumor checkpoint controller that promotes tumor cell death by modulating the spindle assembly checkpoint. BAL27862 is a lipophilic, small molecule (MW 387) shown in rodents to penetrate the brain (1:1 plasma ratio) with promising antitumor activity in orthotopic models of...

3118 Background: EB1, a protein located on the plus-ends of microtubules is involved in microtubule function and has been associated with glioblastoma (GBM) stem-cell-ness and more aggressive disease. Lisavanbulin (BAL101553) is a prodrug of the lipophilic small molecule BAL27862, that promotes tumor cell death by modulating the spindle assembly ch...

93 Background: 5-FU is a key anti-cancer agent used across a broad range of tumors. The anti-cancer metabolite of 5-FU, fluorodeoxyuridine-monophosphate (FUDR-MP), binds and inhibits thymidylate synthase (TS), disrupting DNA synthesis and repair. 5-FU is often dosed with leucovorin (LV) to enhance the binding of FUDR-MP to TS. NUC-3373 is a targete...

309 Background: MIV-818 is an orally administered troxacitabine (TRX)-based nucleotide prodrug. It is highly metabolized by human hepatocytes, directing high levels of the chain-terminating nucleotide tri-phosphate to the liver, while minimizing exposure to other organs. The tri-phosphate is incorporated into DNA during replication, which leads to...

Purpose: the BILCAP study described a modest benefit for capecitabine as adjuvant therapy for curatively resected biliary tract cancer (BTC), and capecitabine has become the standard of care. We present the long-term data and novel exploratory subgroup analyses. Methods: this randomized, controlled, multicenter, phase III study recruited patients a...

4601 Background: MTL-CEBPA is the first small activating RNA to enter clinical trials and upregulates C/EBPα, a master regulator of myeloid cell differentiation. We previously reported a favourable safety profile of MTL-CEBPA as a single agent in HCC (Sarker D et al, ASCO 2018). After discontinuation of MTL-CEBPA, 3 out of 5 patients (pts) treated...

Purpose: Transcription factor C/EBP-α (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha) acts as a master regulator of hepatic and myeloid functions and multiple oncogenic processes. MTL-CEBPA is a first-in-class small activating RNA oligonucleotide drug which up-regulates C/EBP-α. Experimental design: We conducted a phase I, open label, dose escalation tri...

Background To compare the clinical efficacy of New York Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-1 (NY-ESO-1) vaccine with ISCOMATRIX adjuvant versus ISCOMATRIX alone in a randomized, double-blind phase II study in participants with fully resected melanoma at high risk of recurrence. Methods Participants with resected stage IIc, IIIb, IIIc and IV melano...

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the long-term outcome of women with primary or locally advanced breast cancer randomised to receive either doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) or doxorubicin and docetaxel (AD) as primary chemotherapy. Patients and methods: Eligible patients with histology-proven breast cancer with primary tumours ≥ 3 cm,...

TPS274 Background: Although 5-FU-based regimens such as FOLFOX and FOLFIRI remain the cornerstone of treatment for patients (pts) with colorectal cancer (CRC), their clinical utility is limited by resistance mechanisms and toxicity. Anti-cancer activity of 5-FU is dependent on conversion to an active metabolite, fluorodeoxyuridine-monophosphate (FU...

709 Background: Olaparib is a potent inhibitor of PARP-1, which has a critical role in signalling DNA single strand breaks (SSB) as part of the base excision repair pathway, and may have radio-sensitizing effects due to impaired resolution of radiation induced SSB. We hypothesize that O may potentiate the effects of X-CRT in pts with LAPC. Methods:...

520 Background: The availability of newer therapeutic options has shifted the treatment paradigm for uHCC, evoking questions regarding the sequencing of anticancer therapies. REFLECT was a phase 3 study comparing the efficacy and safety of LEN versus sorafenib (SOR) in first-line treatment of patients (pts) who have uHCC. In this post hoc analysis,...

554 Background: MTL-CEBPA is the first saRNA to enter clinical trials and targets the transcription factor C/EBPα, a master regulator of myeloid cell differentiation. We have previously reported a favourable safety profile of MTL-CEBPA given as a single agent QWx3 every 28 days, in patients with HCC (Sarker D et al, ASCO 2018). After discontinuatio...

TPS602 Background: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) carries a poor prognosis and has no approved treatments. Although gemcitabine + cisplatin (GemCis) is accepted as the global standard of care (SoC) for 1 st -line treatment, the reported unconfirmed ORR and OS from randomized studies of this combination are low at 18.5-26.1% and 11.2-11.7 months, respec...

Background: Although 5-FU-based regimens such as FOLFOX and FOLFIRI remain the standard of care for treatment of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), their clinical utility is limited by resistance mechanisms and the production of toxic by-products. Anti-cancer activity of 5-FU requires its conversion to the active metabolite, fluorodeoxyuridine-...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a five‐year survival rate of <4% and desperately needs novel effective therapeutics. Integrin αvβ6 has been linked with poor prognosis in cancer but its potential as a target in PDAC remains unclear. We report that transcriptional expression analysis revealed high levels of β6 mRNA correlated strongly wit...

3094 Background: SRA737 is a potent, highly selective and orally-bioavailable inhibitor of checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1). SRA737-01 was designed to investigate the safety and tolerability of continuous, daily dosing with SRA737 and to evaluate preliminary efficacy in expansion cohorts of prospectively-selected genetically-defined subjects with advance...

TPS4156 Background: Cisplatin and gemcitabine (CisGem) is the global standard of care for 1 st -line treatment of patients (pts) with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC). No agents have regulatory approval for this disease. CisGem achieves an objective response rate (ORR) of 26% and median overall survival (OS) of 11.7 months (ABC-02). Key cancer r...

TPS3167 Background: CDC7 is a protein with key roles in DNA replication initiation, the intra-S-phase checkpoint and M-phase completion. CDC7 is over-expressed in malignant compared to non-malignant cells, particularly those with TP53 mutations, making it an attractive therapeutic target. LY3143921 hydrate is an orally administered ATP-competitive...

TPS460 Background: A major challenge of lower incidence cancer types is that to make significant advances a network approach is required to coordinate research, generate greater clinical capacity and recruit sufficient patients. This is particularly the case for pancreatic cancer (PC). To address this, we established Precision-Panc, a synergistic a...

371 Background: Lenvatinib (LEN) was shown to be noninferior to sorafenib (SOR) for overall survival (OS) in REFLECT (median OS [mOS], 13.6 vs 12.3 months [mo]; HR 0.92; 95% CI 0.79–1.06). LEN was superior vs SOR for secondary endpoints including objective response rate (ORR) per mRECIST: 24.1% vs 9.2% by investigator and 40.6% vs 12.4% by independ...

TPS719 Background: Although 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapies (5-FU, capecitabine, and floxuridine) remain the cornerstone of combination therapies for colorectal cancer (CRC), their clinical utility is limited by key cancer resistance mechanisms associated with breakdown, transport, and activation. These agents require intracellular conversion t...

140 Background: Olaparib is a PARP inhibitor that has shown activity in relapsed gastric cancer (GC) when combined with chemotherapy. MEDIOLA assesses the efficacy and safety of a chemo-free combination of olaparib and durvalumab, an anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) agent in patients (pts) with solid tumors, including relapsed GC (NCT027...

TPS465 Background: Treatment options for PDAC are limited; thus, new therapies that can improve outcomes and extend survival are needed. PDAC is associated with high infiltration by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that inhibit antitumor T-cell activity. Blocking colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R) signaling—which supports the recruitm...

Background: Capecitabine and eribulin are widely used as single agents in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and have nonoverlapping toxicities. Methods: In phase 1b (dose escalation), patients with advanced, treatment-refractory, solid tumours received eribulin mesilate intravenously in 21-day cycles according to schedule 1 (day 1) or schedule 2 (d...

Background: This phase 1 study examined the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of eribulin-liposomal formulation (eribulin-LF) in patients with advanced solid tumours. Methods: Eligible patients with ECOG PS 0-1 were treated with eribulin-LF either on day 1 every 21 days (Schedule 1), or on days 1 and 15 every 28 day...

Background Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) is a pivotal intracellular mediator of extracellular contact interactions. It is over-expressed in cancer, with a long-established role in migration, invasion & survival, and is associated with poor prognosis. Recently FAK has been found to have a similar activity in recruitment of immunosuppressive cells to...

https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/158578/abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is resistant to most therapies including single-agent immunotherapy and has a dense desmoplastic stroma, and most patients present with advanced metastatic disease. We reveal that macrophages are the dominant leukocyte population both in human PDAC stroma and autochthonous models, with an important functional...

http://abstracts.asco.org/199/AbstView_199_185600.html

2532 Background: BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862) is a small molecule TCC that binds microtubules and promotes tumor cell death by activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint. In a previous study (NCT01397929, Lopez et al. JCO 34, 2016; abstr 2525), 2-h IV infusion on Days 1, 8, 15 (q28d) of BAL101553 up to 80 mg/m ² (maximum administered dose, MA...

TPS2612 Background: saRNAs are small oligonucleotide drugs designed to selectively upregulate therapeutic proteins by recruiting endogenous transcriptional complexes to a target gene, leading to increased expression of naturally processed mRNA. Transcription factor C/EBP-α (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha) is a leucine zipper protein which act...

TPS2601 Background: BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862) is a novel TCC that promotes tumor cell death by modulating the spindle assembly checkpoint. BAL27862 is a lipophilic, small molecule (MW 387) shown in rats to penetrate the brain (1:1 plasma ratio) and has shown promising antitumor activity in orthotopic preclinical models of GBM as monotherapy o...

TPS3109 Background: The cell surface protein CD47 is expressed or over-expressed on many tumor types. CD47 binds to signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) on macrophages resulting in a “don’t eat me” signal that blocks host cell phagocytosis of the tumor cells, thus allowing them to escape removal by the innate immune system. Recent data indicate...

2594 Background: Aberrant Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is implicated in carcinogenesis and is associated with poor prognosis in multiple tumours types. Hh inhibitors increase sensitivity to paclitaxel in taxane-resistant cell lines. Taladegib is an orally bioavailable, potent inhibitor of Smoothened, a key Hh pathway component, with activity in basal ce...

5504 Background: Treatment options for cervical, vaginal, and vulvar (GYN) cancers are limited after first-line therapy. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix (≥90%) and vulva/vagina (40–70%), and may elicit an immune reaction. Programmed death (PD)-1 and its major ligand PD-L1 are expressed...

4001 Background: SOR is the only approved agent in uHCC and new options are needed. LEN, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1‒3, fibroblast growth factor receptors 1‒4, platelet derived growth factor receptor α, RET, and KIT, showed activity in uHCC in a phase II trial. We report a phase III trial of LEN vs SOR as first-li...

4014 Background: In the phase 3 ONO-12 study, 3rd- or later-line nivolumab (N) monotherapy prolonged OS vs placebo in Asian pts with adv G/GEJ cancer (median OS, 5.3 vs 4.1 mo; HR, 0.63; P < 0.0001; ASCO-GI 2017, Kang YK et al. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35 (suppl 4S) [abstract 2]). The phase 1/2 CheckMate 032 study showed favorable clinical activity of N...

4006 Background: Despite improvements in multidisciplinary management, BTC has a poor outcome. Approximately 20% of cases are suitable for surgical resection with a 5 year survival of < 10%. BILCAP aimed to determine whether capecitabine (Cape) improves overall survival (OS) compared to observation (Obs) following radical surgery. Methods: Patients...

J Clin Oncol 34, 2016 (suppl; abstr 2525) BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862) is a small molecule TCC that binds microtubules and promotes tumor cell death through activation of the mitotic checkpoint. Antiproliferative effects appear driven by AUC; vascular disruption by Cmax . In a NSCLC xenograft mouse model, dose-dependent vascular disruption with...

J Clin Oncol 34, 2016 (suppl; abstr 2524) Eribulin, a microtubule dynamics inhibitor, is approved in the US for the treatment of pts with metastatic breast cancer who have previously received ≥ 2 chemotherapeutic regimens for metastatic disease including an anthracycline and a taxane in the adjuvant/metastatic setting. Preclinical evidence suggeste...

CXCR2 has been suggested to have both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressive properties. Here we show that CXCR2 signaling is upregulated in human pancreatic cancer, predominantly in neutrophil/myeloid-derived suppressor cells, but rarely in tumor cells. Genetic ablation or inhibition of CXCR2 abrogated metastasis, but only inhibition slowed tumorig...

E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell junctions play a prominent role in maintaining the epithelial architecture. The disruption or deregulation of these adhesions in cancer can lead to the collapse of tumor epithelia that precedes invasion and subsequent metastasis. Here we generated an E-cadherin-GFP mouse that enables intravital photobleaching and quant...

Movie S1. Tissue-Specific and Induced Expression of E-cadherin-GFP, Related to Figure 1

Movie S7. FRAP in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of PDAC Formation and following Drug Treatment, Related to Figures 5 and 6

CP-4126 (gemcitabine elaidate, previously CO-101) is a lipid-drug conjugate of gemcitabine designed to circumvent human equilibrative nucleoside transporter1-related resistance to gemcitabine. The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of CP-4126, and to describe its pharmaco...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality. Despite significant advances made in the treatment of other cancers, current chemotherapies offer little survival benefit in this disease. Pancreaticoduodenectomy offers patients the possibility of a cure, but most will die of recurrent or metastatic d...