Clinical Characteristics of an Italian Patient Population with Advanced BCC and Real-Life Evaluation of Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor Safety and Effectiveness

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC) represents a complex and clinically heterogeneous group of lesions for which curative surgery and/or radiotherapy is unlikely. Systemic therapy with hedgehog pathway inhibitors (HHIs) changed the treatment landscape for this complex patient population. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The aims of the present study are to describe the clinical characteristics of a real-life Italian cohort diagnosed with aBCC and to investigate effectiveness and safety of HHI. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A multicenter observational study was performed by twelve Italian centers in the period January 1, 2016 – October 15, 2022. Patients aged ≥18 years and diagnosed with aBCC (locally advanced [laBCC] and metastatic BCC [mBCC]) were eligible for the study. Methods for investigating tumor response to HHI included clinical and dermatoscopic evaluation, radiological imaging, and histopathology. For HHI safety assessment, therapy-related adverse events (AEs) were reported and graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. <b><i>Results:</i></b> We enrolled 178 patients under treatment with HHI: 126 (70.8%) and 52 patients (29.2%) received sonidegib and vismodegib, respectively. Comprehensive data on HHI effectiveness and disease outcome were available for 132 (74.1%) of 178 patients: 129 patients had a diagnosis of laBCC (<i>n =</i> 84, sonidegib; <i>n =</i> 45, vismodegib) and 3 patients of mBCC (<i>n =</i> 2, vismodegib; <i>n =</i> 1, sonidegib, off-label). Objective response rate was 76.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 82.3–68.7) and 33.3% (95% CI: 88.2–1.7) for laBCC (complete response [CR]: 43/129; PR: 56/129) and mBCC (CR: 0/3; PR: 1/3), respectively. High-risk aBCC histopathological subtypes and occurrence of &gt;2 therapy-related AEs were significantly associated with nonresponse to HHI therapy ([OR: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.09–6.05; <i>p</i>: 0.03] and [OR: 2.74; 95% CI: 1.03–7.9; <i>p</i>: 0.04]), respectively. Majority of our cohort (54.5%) developed at least 1 therapy-related AE, most of which were mild-moderate in severity. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Our results demonstrate the effectiveness and safety profile of HHI and confirm the reproducibility of pivotal trial results in real-life clinical setting.