The collection of data across these sites yield a total of 71 AA subjects with mCSPC. Their baseline demographics included a median age of 63 years (range 41-84), high rates of Gleason grade 8-10 (58%), and de novo metastases (59%). More than half (55%) had high-volume disease by CHAARTED criteria, among which 20% had visceral disease. Initial treatment data reflected historical trends, with 22 (31%) of subjects receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) monotherapy (15 of these 22 were prior to 2017). Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone and enzalutamide were used in 24% and 45% of men, respectively. Only 3% of subjects received docetaxel therapy at a median cycle number of six. Two patients received “triplet” therapy, combing docetaxel with either abiraterone or enzalutamide.
Thirty-five percent of patients developed an undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (after a median of 8.9 months, range 1.8-22.3) and castration resistance was manifested in 32 patients at an estimated median time of 2.9 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-4.2). Subsequent therapies included the expected variety of agents, with abiraterone acetate being the most common (41%). The germline of ficve patients (8%) contained known pathogenic alterations, including in BRCA1 (n = 2), HOXB13, PALB2, and PMS2 (all n =1). Assessment of somatic alterations from a subset of the cohort (27 patients) revealed recurrent alterations in CDK12, SPOP, TP53, and TMPRSS2-ERG (fusions), each of 11% (3/27) frequency. Of note, this frequency of TMPRSS2-ERG fusions is lower than what is commonly reported in non-AA populations, and in general, trend with what is reported in AA cohorts.2,3
Freeman et al. provide an assessment of the disease characteristics of AA men with mCSPC, the therapies received, and their outcomes, across six US centers. These data, as retrospectively collected, suggest the possibility of higher rates of both high-volume and de novo metastatic disease in AA men, conclusions that warrant larger investigations to confirm these patterns and isolate their social or biologic causes. Again, as observed in the overall mCSPC community, independent of ancestry, rates of ADT alone in mCSPC remain rather high. The authors note the robust rate of deep PSA response in this AA cohort, which is similar to retrospect case-cohort data suggesting better initial PSA response in AA men exposed to abiraterone acetate.4 The molecular mechanisms for this require further focused and prospective investigations to determine whether these data should influence the selection of an initial agent to add to ADT in AA men with mCSPC.
Presented by: Meredith Freeman, BS, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
Written by: Jones Nauseef, MD, PhD, Fellow, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, Twitter: @DrJonesNauseef during the 2021 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU), February 11th to 13th, 2021
References:
1. Spratt, Daniel E., and Joseph R. Osborne. “Disparities in castration-resistant prostate cancer trials.” Journal of Clinical Oncology 33, no. 10 (2015): 1101.
