ALBERT

Description: The risk of venous and arterial thromboembolism (VTE/ATE) associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors is currently unclear, and clinical trials evaluating these agents in patients with cancer did not provide information. Our aim was to quantify risk of VTE/ATE in a cohort of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, explore clinical impact, and investigate potential clinical risk factors. Patients treated with an immune checkpoint inhibitor at the Medical University of Vienna from 2015-2018 were identified using the in-house pharmacy records (n=672; most frequent entities: 30.4% melanoma, 24.1% non-small-cell lung cancer; 86% stage-IV-disease). A retrospective chart-review was performed to screen for VTE and/or ATE. Cumulative incidences and between-group differences were analysed within a competing-risk framework. Multi-state modelling was applied to study the impact of VTE/ATE on mortality. Over a median follow-up of 8.5 months, 47 VTE and 9 ATE were observed. Cumulative incidences of VTE and ATE were 12.9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 8.2-18.5)] and 1.8% [95%CI: 0.7-3.6]. Occurrence of VTE was associated with increased mortality (transition hazard-ratio (THR): 3.09 [95%CI: 2.07-4.60]. History of VTE predicted VTE occurrence (subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR): 3.69 [2.00-6.81]) and distant metastasis was non-significantly associated with VTE risk (SHR: 1.71 [95%CI: 0.62-4.73]). No association of VTE with ECOG performance-status, Charlson-Comorbidity-Index or the Khorana-score was observed, and rates of VTE were comparable among subgroups of tumour types and checkpoint-inhibitory agents. In conclusion, patients with cancer under immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy are at high risk of thromboembolism, especially VTE. Furthermore, VTE occurrence was associated with increased risk of mortality.

Description: Background: Patients with pancreatic cancer have a high risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Activation of haemostasis has been suggested to contribute to the progression of cancer and its metastatic spread. However, clinical data to support the contribution of activation of haemostasis to disease progression are scarce. Our aim was to evaluate the association biomarkers indicating activation of haemostasis and/or hypercoagulability and of VTE occurrence with survival and therapy response in patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods: Within a prospective, observational cohort study (Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study, CATS), we evaluated the subgroup of patients with pancreatic cancer (n=145). Levels of a comprehensive panel of haemostatic biomarkers (D-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1+2, fibrinogen, factor VIII, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), soluble (s)P-selectin, peak thrombin generation, endogenous thrombin potential) were measured at baseline. Differences in levels of haemostatic biomarkers between disease stages were tested for statistical significance by Kruskal-Wallis-test. The association of biomarker levels with overall survival (OS) and therapy response (progression-free survival (PFS) and radiological disease control rate; sub-cohort of patient initiating palliative chemotherapy, n=95) was analysed by multivariable Cox regression, adjusting for disease stage, grade, sex, age, ECOG, VTE (as time-dependent covariable) and vascular infiltration or compression by the primary tumour. Cumulative incidence of VTE was estimated in competing risk analysis, considering death as competing outcome event. The impact of VTE on OS and PFS was evaluated by multi-state modelling, adjusting for stage, grade, sex, age, ECOG and vascular involvement. Results: We observed higher baseline levels of biomarkers according to increasing stage of disease for D-dimer (stage I/II: median 1.25 µg/ml [interquartile range (IQR): 0.65-2.10]; stage III: 1.41 µg/ml [IQR: 0.65-2.24]; stage IV: 1.68 µg/ml [IQR: 0.98-3.82], p=0.035), and sP-selectin (stage I/II: median 34.2 ng/ml [IQR: 26.8-43.1]; stage III: 37.6 ng/ml [IQR: 31.4-49.1]; stage IV: 38.8 ng/ml [IQR:32.9-51.5], p=0.033). Higher levels of D-dimer, PAI-1 and sP-selectin were associated with shorter OS in multivariable analysis (hazard ratio (HR) for death per doubling: 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.66], 1.25 [95% CI: 1.08-1.45, and 1.42 [95% CI: 1.00-2.01] (Figure 1). In the subgroup of patients initiating palliative chemotherapy, pre-therapeutic levels of D-dimer predicted for shorter PFS (HR for disease progression per double: 1.29 [95% CI: 1.03-1.61]) and a decreased probability for radiological therapy response (odds ratio to achieve radiological disease control per double: 0.61 [95% CI: 0.38-0.99]). Cumulative incidence estimates of VTE in competing risk analysis at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months were 9.0% [95% CI: 5.0-14.3], 13.1% [95% CI: 8.2-19.1], 16.6% [95% CI: 11.1-23.1], and 19.5% [95% CI: 13.4-26.2], respectively. The occurrence of VTE was associated with an immediate increase in risk of death (transition hazard ratio, (THR): 2.37 [95% CI: 1.47-3.84]) and early disease progression (THR: 2.34 [95% CI: 1.50-3.66]), which prevailed upon multivariable adjustment. In landmark analyses, median OS and PFS after VTE were 5.5 months [95% CI: 2.2-6.5] and 3.0 months [95% CI: 1.5-3.9] compared to 13.4 months [95% CI: 9.7-16.6] and 7.5 months [95% CI: 5.9-9.8] in those without VTE (Mantel-Byar: both p