Improving Public Cancer Care by Implementing Precision Medicine in Norway

Overview

IMPRESS-Norway is a prospective, non-randomized clinical trial evaluating efficacy of commercially available, anti-cancer drugs prescribed for patients with advanced cancer diagnosed with potentially actionable alterations as revealed by molecular diagnostics. IMPRESS-Norway is a nation-wide study and all hospitals with an oncology and / or hematology department will be invited to participate in the study. The study will use a combined umbrella and basket design and a Simon two-stage model of expanding cohorts to follow up potentially effective combinations of biomarker and drug on specific indications. Sampling of biological material will be performed at presentation, during treatment and upon progression. Additional biomarker and translational analyses including whole genome sequencing (WGS) on tumour material and liquid biopsies, identifying mechanisms underlying drug sensitivity versus resistance will be performed.

Description

Eligible patients have an advanced malignancy already treated with standard treatment, acceptable performance status and organ function, with no other suitable clinical trial available in Norway. A molecular test performed at a study specific reference laboratory has identified a potentially targetable molecular profile. Next, a suitable drug should be available from the trial drug armamentarium. Finally, if the patient fulfils the inclusion criteria and is accepted for the trial, a second tumour biopsy (snap-frozen)/ tumour material for WGS will be sampled. Patients enrolled in the study will enter an existing cohort, or, in case a suitable cohort does not exist, a new cohort can be opened. One cohort will consist of one diagnostic subgroup, one drug (or one drug-combination) and one molecular marker. The choice of drug(s) will be supported by a list of potential profiles. In addition, available knowledge from the literature will be used to prepare discussion in a national molecular tumour board, which will provide a treatment recommendation to the treating physician and the study doctors . The protocol-specified treatment may be administered to the patient once drug-specific eligibility criteria are confirmed and a fresh pre-treatment biopsy is performed for future biomarker studies and research on responders versus non-responders.

All patients who receive treatment with a drug available in the protocol will be monitored for standard efficacy outcomes including tumour response, progression-free and overall survival as well as study specific measures as duration of treatment. Patients that are screened, but not included into any cohorts will be followed for 16 weeks for survival and clinical course of disease. Treatment-related toxicities (CTCAE grade 3-5) will be evaluated. Study-specific treatment and outcome data including results from the molecular screening will be reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway. Long-term follow up data using the Cancer Registry of Norway and information from The Norwegian Patient Registry, The Norwegian Prescription Database and Primary patient- and user Register (KPR) will be collected on all patients screened.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Type of Participant and Health status
  1. Patient with a pathology-proven locally advanced or metastatic malignant disease who is no longer benefitting from standard anti-cancer treatment or for whom, in the opinion of the investigator, no such treatment is available or indicated.
  2. ECOG performance status 0-2.
  3. For orally administered drugs, the patient must be able to swallow and tolerate oral medication and must have no known malabsorption syndrome.
  4. Patients must have acceptable organ function as defined below. However, as noted above, drug-specific inclusion/exclusion criteria specified in the drug-specific study manuals for each agent will take precedence for this and all inclusion criteria (exceptions for haematological diagnoses):
     1. Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 x109 / L
     2. Hemoglobin > 9 g/dl
     3. Platelets > 75,000/µl
     4. Total bilirubin < 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
     5. AST (SGOT) and ALT(SGPT) < 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) (or < 5 x ULN in patients with known hepatic metastases)
     6. Calculated or measured creatinine clearance ≥ 40 mL/min/1.73 m2.
  5. Patients must have measurable or evaluable disease. RECIST v1.1 (10, 18) will be

     used for patients with solid tumours. For patients with multiple myeloma or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, IMWG response criteria (19) and CHESON/Lugano guidelines (20) will be used, resp. For glioblastoma patients, RANO criteria will be used (21). iRECIST will be used for immunotherapy-cohorts. IWG response criteria will be used for haematological cancers.

     Patients whose disease cannot be objectively measured by physical or radiographic examination (e.g., elevated serum tumour marker only) are NOT eligible, with the exception of CA-125 for ovarian cancer and PSA for prostate cancer (22).

  6. Results must be available from a genomic / molecular test performed in a preapproved laboratory (Section 10.15). The test used to qualify a patient for participation in IMPRESS-Norway may have been performed on any specimen of the patient's tumour obtained at any point during the patient's care at the discretion of the patient's treating physician. Genomic assays performed on cell-free DNA in plasma ("liquid biopsies") will also be acceptable if the genomic analysis is performed as defined in Section 10.5. NGS analyses will be performed on a newly sampled biopsy if possible. Information from these analyses might be used upon progression, for evaluation of possible new cohort-inclusion.
  7. Have a genomic profile for which treatment with one of the approved targeted anti-cancer therapies included in this study has potential clinical benefit see Section 4.3.5

     Note: Eligible genomic tests may include any of the following technologies and equivalent techniques: Immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (incl nanostring), array-based copy number analysis (CNV), sanger sequencing (SS), RNA sequencing, gene panels or whole exome sequencing (WES) by next generation sequencing (NGS). The test may have been performed on a fresh (frozen or in RNA-later) or paraffin-embedded specimen of the primary tumour or a metastatic deposit or on cell-free DNA derived from liquid biopsies (like for instance peripheral blood plasma), as determined by the treating physician, and must reveal a potentially actionable genomic variant or protein overexpression as defined in Section 4.3.

  8. Patients must meet drug-specific eligibility requirements for the drug selected by the investigator.

        Sex and Contraceptive/Barrier Requirements 9.8. Because of the risks of drug treatment to
        the developing fetus, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate
        highly effective methods of contraception for the duration of study participation, and for
        4 to 24 months following completion of study therapy as defined in Section 11.4.
        10.9. Female participants must have a negative highly sensitive pregnancy test <1 month
        prior to inclusion.
        11.10. Male patients should avoid impregnating a female partner. Male study patients must
        agree to one of the following: practice effective barrier contraception as described under
        sec. 11.4 during the entire study treatment period and through a certain time after the
        last dose of study drug. Details are given in the "Drug specific amendment".
        Informed Consent 12.11. Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written
        informed consent/assent document as described in Appendix 1 which includes compliance with
        the requirements and restrictions listed in the informed consent form (ICF) and in this
        protocol. Guardians / parents can act on behalf of children.
        Exclusion Criteria:
        A potential participant who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from
        participation in this study (other exclusion criteria might apply for specific drugs).
        Medical Conditions
          1. Patients eligible to enter other ongoing trials which have to potential to benefit the
             patients equally or more than a IMPRESS-Norway cohort, and for whom access to the
             ongoing trials is manageable (taking geography into consideration).
          2. Ongoing toxicity > CTCAE grade 2, other than peripheral neuropathy, related to
             anti-tumour treatment that was completed within 4 weeks prior to treatment initiation.
             Patients with ongoing peripheral neuropathy of ≥ CTCAE grade 3.
             Patients with known progressive brain metastases determined by serial imaging or
             declining neurologic function in the opinion of the treating physician. Patients with
             previously treated / stable brain metastases are eligible. Additional exclusion
             criteria specific for GBM patients:
             a. Patients who require anti-convulsant therapy must be taking non-enzyme inducing
             antiepileptic drugs (non-EIAED). EIAED are prohibited. Patients previously on EIAED
             must be switched to non-EIAED at least 2 weeks prior to randomization.
          3. Patients with the following pre-existing cardiac conditions, uncontrolled angina,
             uncontrolled atrial or ventricular arrhythmias, or symptomatic congestive heart
             failure.
          4. Patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) known to be < 40%.
          5. Patients with stroke (including TIA) or acute myocardial infarction within 4 months
             before the first dose of study treatment
          6. Patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding within 1 month of start of treatment
          7. Patients with any other clinically significant medical condition which, in the opinion
             of the treating physician, makes it undesirable for the patient to participate in the
             study or which could jeopardize compliance with study requirements including, but not
             limited to: ongoing or active infection, significant uncontrolled hypertension, severe
             psychiatric illness situations, or anticipated or planned anti-cancer treatment or
             surgery.
          8. Patients with known allergy/hypersensitivity to the study drug (active substance or to
             any of the excipients).
        Prior/Concomitant Therapy 9. Previous treatment with the selected study drug for the same
        malignancy. 10. Patient is receiving any other anti-cancer therapy (cytotoxic, biologic,
        radiation, or hormonal other than for replacement) except for medications that are
        prescribed for supportive care but may potentially have an anti-cancer effect (e.g.,
        megestrol acetate, bisphosphonates) or ongoing castration-intent therapy for prostate
        cancer. These medications must have been started ≥ 1 month prior to enrolment on this
        study. Patients may be on warfarin, low molecular weight heparin or direct factor Xa
        inhibitors, unless such therapies are prohibited by drug-specific exclusion criteria.
        Diagnostic assessments 11. If the patient's tumour has a genomic variant known to confer
        resistance to an anti-cancer agent available in this study, the patient will not be
        eligible to receive that agent but will be eligible to receive other drugs available in
        this study if all inclusion and exclusion criteria are met for that drug.
        Other Exclusions 12. Female patients who are pregnant or nursing 13. Patients who do not
        meet drug-specific eligibility requirements for the drug selected by the investigator
        Note: For each drug included in this protocol, specific inclusion and exclusion criteria
        (based on the Summary of Product Characterics (SPC) or manufacturer's recommendations) may
        also apply. These can be found in the supplemental information about each agent included in
        the appendices. Drug-specific inclusion and exclusion criteria will take precedence over
        the general inclusion/exclusion criteria
        -