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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Researchers posit that human papillomavirus (HPV) circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) potentially could be used as a biomarker in monitoring responses to treatment in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma. Emmanuelle Jeannot, PhD, of Institut Curie, Paris, and colleagues found that in the HPV-positive patients in the PEVOsq basket trial who had detectable HPV ctDNA levels both before treatment and at the first imaging after treatment, changes in HPV ctDNA levels between those two timepoints were significantly correlated with tumoral response. The researchers presented their work during the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 (Abstract 2412/8). In PEVOsq, all patients were treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat to evaluate the combination’s efficacy.
Of the trial’s 112 participants, 66 had HPV-positive disease, and of them, 47 had detectable HPV ctDNA at the two noted timepoints. In this subgroup, patients had squamous cell carcinoma affecting the anus (n = 24), cervix (n = 11), vulva/vagina (n = 8), penis (n = 3), and head/neck (n = 1).
“Increasing HPV ctDNA copies at [first imaging] correlated with progressive disease in eight patients (67%), whereas decreasing HPV ctDNA occurred in six (100%) and eight (80%) patients with complete response and partial response, respectively,” described the team. Further, “increase in HPV ctDNA copies was more frequent in nonresponders vs responders (P = .03).”
Increases in HPV ctDNA copies were also associated with shorter overall survival (12.1 months vs not reached; P = .02) and a trend toward shorter progression-free survival (4.3 vs 8.2 months; P = .06). In additional calculations, when HPV ctDNA was taken as a continuous variable, a 10% increase seen between the first and second timepoints seemed to be associated with a higher risk of disease progression (P = .0007) and shorter overall survival (P < .0001), Dr. Jeannot and co-investigators pointed out.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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