Tumour extrinsic neutrophil regulation in mesothelioma correlates with responsiveness to AXL and PD1 inhibition in MIST3, a phase IIA clinical trial
AXL and PD1 inhibition with bemcentinib plus pembrolizumab met its primary endpoint in the phase IIA MIST3 trial in ICB naïve-relapsed mesothelioma, with a 12-week disease control rate of 46.2% (90% CI 29.2-63.8%); grade 3 or greater adverse events occurred in 53.9% of patients. Multiomic analyses linked response to NF2 loss, immune response signalling, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and neutrophil-related transcriptional programmes including SPI1, ETS2 and FLI1 activation. Gut microbiota composition differed between responders and non-responders and correlated with neutrophil-associated transcription programmes, IRF3 and TLR2.
Why it matters: Phase IIA evidence that neutrophil and gut microbiota features track response to AXL-PD1 inhibition in mesothelioma.