Faculty Bibliography

Adoptive cellular immunotherapy (ACT) has revolutionized hematologic malignancies, yet translation to solid tumors has historically been limited. This landscape shifted significantly in 2024 with US Food and Drug Administration approvals of lifileucel, a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for advanced melanoma, and afamitresgene autoleucel, an engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy for synovial sarcoma. These approvals mark the clinical arrival of ACT for solid tumors and highlight a rapidly expanding therapeutic landscape. Beyond these indications, multiple ACT platforms including TIL, TCR, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell, CAR-natural killer, and CAR-macrophage therapies are under active clinical investigation across diverse solid tumor indications. Clinical experience to date has defined key barriers to efficacy, including impaired tumor trafficking, antigen heterogeneity, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and limited cellular persistence. In parallel, rapid advances in cellular engineering are reshaping the field, with the development of armored constructs, logic-gated and multiantigen targeting strategies, innate immune-based platforms, and novel manufacturing approaches including allogeneic and in vivo cell engineering. As ACT enters clinical practice for select solid tumors, distinct toxicity profiles and logistical requirements necessitate careful patient selection and multidisciplinary coordination. Early biomarker testing, timely referral to specialized centers, and familiarity with evolving toxicity management frameworks are increasingly critical. Here, we seek to provide a practice-oriented framework for understanding emerging ACT platforms, clinical data, toxicity considerations, and implementation strategies relevant to contemporary solid tumor oncology care.

BACKGROUND:mutations occur in more than 90% of PDAC tumors. Daraxonrasib (RMC-6236) is an oral RAS(ON) multiselective inhibitor that targets guanosine triphosphate-bound mutant and wild-type RAS. METHODS:-mutated PDAC. RESULTS:G12, G13, or Q61 mutations, 29% (95% CI, 15 to 46) had an objective response. The median duration of response was 8.2 months (95% CI, 3.8 to 8.8), with median values of 8.1 months for progression-free survival and 15.6 months for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS:-mutated PDAC; antitumor activity was also reported. (Funded by Revolution Medicines; RMC-6236-001 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05379985.).

Advanced solid tumors remain largely incurable, with most patients ultimately progressing despite modern therapies, including immune checkpoint blockade. The limited impact of these approaches reflects the biological complexity of solid tumors, including intratumoral heterogeneity, an immunosuppressive microenvironment, and the predominance of "undruggable" oncogenic drivers. Adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) offers a complementary strategy by delivering tumor-specific lymphocytes directly into patients. Among ACT modalities, T-cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cells stand out for their ability to recognize intracellular neoantigens presented by MHC molecules, thus accessing a broader antigenic landscape. Early successes, such as the FDA approvals of lifileucel and afamitresgene autoleucel, highlight the promise of these approaches, while proof-of-concept clinical studies demonstrate activity of personalized neoantigen-reactive TCRs in advanced solid tumors. Major challenges remain, including safety concerns from off-tumor toxicities and resistance mechanisms such as HLA loss of heterozygosity. Ongoing innovations in target discovery, TCR engineering, and combination strategies aim to overcome these barriers and establish mutant-selective TCR therapy as a viable therapeutic strategy in the treatment of solid tumors.

Tri-complex inhibitors (TCIs) are molecular glues that bind the active, guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound state of RAS and recruit cyclophilin A (CYPA) to form a synthetic complex that blocks oncogenic signaling. Although these agents have shown clinical activity in RAS mutant cancers, resistance mechanisms remain poorly defined. Here, we analyzed paired baseline and end-of-treatment samples from 40 patients treated with the RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib and identified recurrent alterations in 18 cases. Structural and functional analyses revealed that acquired mutations confer resistance by disrupting interactions essential for daraxonrasib binding to RAS, including RAS Y64 mutations, or by enhancing the RAS-RAF interaction, thereby favoring native RAS-RAF signaling, including RAS Y71 or kinase-dead/hypoactive BRAF mutations. We then identified a TCI that targets RAS Y64 mutants and combination therapies to target resistance driven by kinase-dead BRAF. These findings uncover convergent resistance mechanisms that undermine the molecular glue function and offer a mechanistic blueprint for enhancing therapeutic efficacy in RAS-driven malignancies.

OBJECTIVE/UNASSIGNED:Identifying eligible patients for precision oncology clinical trials is challenging, particularly for rare molecular subpopulations. To address this challenge, A2 Biotherapeutics developed BASECAMP-1 (NCT04981119), a non-interventional master screening study to identify patients eligible for interventional studies of logic-gated Tmod chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies. Eligible patients for these interventional trials have an advanced solid malignancy and are germline human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02 heterozygous, with tumour-associated HLA-A loss of heterozygosity (LOH). HLA-A LOH occurs in ~16% of advanced solid malignancies; therefore, an efficient screening strategy is required. This report describes BASECAMP-1; compares the efficiency of two screening methods; and discusses the broader advantages of BASECAMP-1 beyond efficient enrolment. METHODS AND ANALYSIS/UNASSIGNED:Patients are identified for BASECAMP-1 using two approaches. In the traditional approach, common for clinical trials, investigators consent and screen all patients who might be good candidates for cell therapy trials, with no prior knowledge of patient HLA-A type or LOH status. To further optimise our approach, we co-developed with Tempus AI (Tempus) the bioinformatic programme Aware, which identifies potentially eligible patients with tumour-associated HLA-A*02 LOH within a clinico-genomic database that includes linked genomic and transcriptomic sequencing and clinical data collected during routine care. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:Over 42 months of using a traditional approach to identify eligible patients, 1918 patients at 13 study sites were consented and screened for BASECAMP-1; of these, 30 patients with tumour-associated HLA-A*02 LOH were enrolled (~0.7 participants per month). Over the last 30 months of that same period, Tempus Aware screening was implemented and 55 patients with tumour-associated HLA-A*02 LOH were enrolled (~1.8 participants per month). The bioinformatic approach identified more patients than the traditional approach and used sequencing results produced as part of the standard clinical tumour sequencing workflow, reducing resource use and study staff burden. Additional advantages of using a screening study, such as BASECAMP-1, include manufacturing efficiencies and collection of a large dataset of molecular and clinical parameters that can be used to supplement trial analyses. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:The BASECAMP-1 study demonstrates a clinico-genomic screening approach can more efficiently identify patients for precision oncology trials. Furthermore, precision oncology can be enhanced through collaborative data-sharing. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER/UNASSIGNED:NCT04981119.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with loss of the tumor suppressor gene STK11 are resistant to immune checkpoint therapies like anti-PD-1. Here, we conducted an in vivo CRISPR screen that identified HDAC1 as a target to reverse anti-PD-1 resistance driven by loss of STK11 and developed TNG260, a potent small-molecule inhibitor of the CoREST complex with selectivity exceeding previously generated inhibitors in this class in preclinical studies. Treatment with TNG260 led to increased expression of immunomodulatory genes in STK11-deficient cancer cells. When combined with anti-PD-1, TNG260 induced immune-mediated stasis and/or regression in STK11-deficient syngeneic tumor models and autochthonous NSCLC models. In the tumors of patients with STK11-deficient cancers on a clinical trial (NCT05887492), treatment with a combination of TNG260 and pembrolizumab increased intratumoral histone acetylation, PD-L1 tumor proportion scores, and T cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. This study illustrates a promising treatment strategy for addressing immune evasion in STK11-mutant NSCLC patients.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Durvalumab improves survival when used as consolidation therapy after chemoradiation (CRT) in patients with stage III NSCLC. However, the optimal consolidation therapy for patients with EGFR-mutant (EGFRmut) stage III NSCLC remains unknown. METHODS:In this multi-institutional international retrospective analysis across 24 institutions, we evaluated outcomes in patients with stage III EGFRmut NSCLC treated with concurrent CRT followed by consolidation therapy with osimertinib, durvalumab, or observation between 2015 and 2022. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate real-world progression-free survival (rwPFS, primary endpoint) and overall survival (OS, secondary endpoint). Treatment-related adverse events (trAE) during consolidation treatment were defined using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used. RESULTS:Of 136 patients with stage III EGFRmut NSCLC treated with definitive concurrent CRT, 56 received consolidation durvalumab, 33 received consolidation osimertinib, and 47 received observation alone. Baseline characteristics were similar across the 3 cohorts. With a median follow-up of 46 months for the entire cohort, the median duration of treatment was not reached (NR) for osimertinib (Inter-quartile range [IQR]: NR-NR) and was 5.5 (IQR:2.4-10.8) months with durvalumab. After adjusting for nodal status, stage III A/B/C, and age, patients treated with consolidation osimertinib had significantly longer 24-month rwPFS compared to those in the durvalumab or observation cohorts (osimertinib: 86%, durvalumab: 30%, observation: 27%, p<0.001 for both comparisons). There was no difference in rwPFS between durvalumab and the observation cohort. No significant difference in OS across the 3 cohorts was detected, possibly due to the limited follow-up. Any grade trAE occurred in 52% (2 [6.1%] grade ≥3) and 48% (10 [18%] grade ≥3) of patients treated with osimertinib and durvalumab, respectively. Of 45 patients who progressed on consolidation durvalumab, 37 (82%) subsequently received EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Of these, 14 (38%) patients developed trAEs including 5 pneumonitis (14%; 2 [5.4%] grade ≥3) and 5 diarrhea (14%; 1 [2.7%] grade ≥3). CONCLUSIONS:This study suggests that among patients with stage III unresectable NSCLC with a sensitizing EGFR mutation, consolidation osimertinib was associated with significantly longer rwPFS than durvalumab or observation. No unanticipated safety signals were observed with consolidation osimertinib.

Approximately 30% of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients present with disease progression after successful surgical resection. Despite efforts of mapping the genetic landscape, there has been limited success in discovering predictive biomarkers of disease outcomes. Here we performed a systematic multi-omic assessment of 143 tumors and matched tumor-adjacent, histologically-normal lung tissue with long-term patient follow-up. Through histologic, mutational, and transcriptomic profiling of tumor and adjacent-normal tissue, we identified an inflammatory gene signature in tumor-adjacent tissue as the strongest clinical predictor of disease progression. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis demonstrated the progression-associated inflammatory signature was expressed in both immune and non-immune cells, and cell type-specific profiling in monocytes further improved outcome predictions. Additional analyses of tumor-adjacent transcriptomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas validated the association of the inflammatory signature with worse outcomes across cancers. Collectively, our study suggests that molecular profiling of tumor-adjacent tissue can identify patients at high risk for disease progression.

UNLABELLED:. Surprisingly, compared with other genetic subsets, murine and human LKB1-mutant NSCLC show marked overexpression of the NAD+-catabolizing ectoenzyme, CD38 on the surface of tumor cells. Loss of LKB1 or inactivation of Salt-Inducible Kinases (SIKs)-key downstream effectors of LKB1- induces CD38 transcription induction via a CREB binding site in the CD38 promoter. Treatment with the FDA-approved anti-CD38 antibody, daratumumab, inhibited growth of LKB1-mutant NSCLC xenografts. Together, these results reveal CD38 as a promising therapeutic target in patients with LKB1 mutant lung cancer. SIGNIFICANCE/CONCLUSIONS:tumor suppressor of lung adenocarcinoma patients and are associated with resistance to current treatments. Our study identified CD38 as a potential therapeutic target that is highly overexpressed in this specific subtype of cancer, associated with a shift in NAD homeostasis.

Tilsotolimod, an oligodeoxynucleotide TLR9 agonist, administered intra-tumorally, has been clinically evaluated. This compound has demonstrated the ability to induce changes within the tumor microenvironment, to convert non-inflamed cold tumors into inflamed hot tumors, with the hope that these tumors will be more responsive to immune checkpoint blockade.