Jacqueline Vuky

Phase II Study of Long-Term Androgen Suppression With Bevacizumab and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) in High-Risk Prostate Cancer

PURPOSEnWe report a Phase II trial assessing the acute and late toxicities of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), long-term androgen suppression (LTAS), and bevacizumab in patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSnWe treated 18 patients with LTAS with bicalutamide and goserelin in combination with bevacizumab and IMRT. Bevacizumab (10 mg/kg every 2 weeks) was administered for the first 16 weeks, and 15 mg/kg was then given every 3 weeks for 12 additional weeks, with an IMRT dose of 77.9 Gy to the prostate, 64.6 Gy to the seminal vesicles, and 57 Gy to the pelvic lymph nodes. Patients were eligible if they had clinical stage T2b to T4, a Gleason sum score of 8 to 10, or a prostate- specific antigen level of 20ng/mL or greater. The primary endpoint of the study was evaluation of acute and late toxicities.nnnRESULTSnThe median age was 69 years, with a median pretreatment prostate-specific antigen level of 12.5 ng/mL and Gleason score of 8. The pretreatment clinical stage was T1c in 4 patients, T2 in 11, and T3 in 3. All patients completed IMRT with median follow-up of 34 months (range, 28-40 months) The most common Grade 2 or higher toxicities were hypertension (61% of patients with Grade 2 and 11% with Grade 3), proteinuria (28% with Grade 2 and 6% with Grade 3), and leucopenia (28% with Grade 2). No Grade 4 or higher acute toxicities were reported. Late toxicities included proctitis (6% of patients with Grade 2 and 11% with Grade 3), rectal bleeding (6% with Grade 2 and 11% with Grade 3), hematuria (6% with Grade 2), proteinuria (17% with Grade 2), hyponatremia (6% with Grade 3), cystitis (6% with Grade 3), and urinary retention (6% with Grade 2 and 11% with Grade 3). Grade 4 prostatitis occurred in 1 patient (6%).nnnCONCLUSIONSnBevacizumab does not appear to exacerbate the acute effects of IMRT. Late toxicities may have been worsened with this regimen. Further investigations of bevacizumab with LTAS and IMRT should be performed cautiously.

Phase II study to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the mitotic spindle kinesin inhibitor AZD4877 in patients with recurrent advanced urothelial cancer.

SummaryBackground AZD4877 is a potent inhibitor of the mitotic spindle kinesin, Eg5. Early-phase clinical studies in a broad range of cancers showed that AZD4877 is well tolerated. This Phase II study evaluated the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics (Cmax) of AZD4877 in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00661609). Patients and methods AZD4877 25xa0mg was administered once-weekly for 3xa0weeks of each 4-week cycle until disease progression, death, unacceptable toxicity or withdrawal. The primary objective was to determine the objective response rate (RECIST). Recruitment was to be halted if ≤2 of the first 20 evaluable patients achieved an objective tumor response. Cmax was assessed on days 1 and 8 of cycle 1. Results None of the first 20 patients evaluable for efficacy achieved an objective response; enrollment was therefore halted. During this initial analysis, a further 21 patients were recruited. Overall, 39 patients were evaluable for efficacy, including one with confirmed partial response (PR) and seven patients with stable disease for ≥8xa0weeks (including one unconfirmed PR). The most commonly reported treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were neutropenia (22 patients), fatigue (12), leukopenia (7) and constipation (6); the most commonly reported grade ≥3 TRAE was neutropenia (21). Four patients had serious TRAEs. On days 1 and 8, the geometric mean Cmax of AZD4877 was 138xa0ng/ml (CVu2009=u200975xa0%) and 144xa0ng/ml (CVu2009=u2009109xa0%), respectively. Conclusions AZD4877 was generally tolerable in patients with advanced urothelial cancer. Given the limited clinical efficacy, further development of AZD4877 in urothelial cancer is not planned.

A Phase 1/2 Trial of a Combination of Paclitaxel and Trastuzumab With Daily Irradiation or Paclitaxel Alone With Daily Irradiation After Transurethral Surgery for Noncystectomy Candidates With Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (Trial NRG Oncology RTOG 0524)

PURPOSEnBladder preservation therapy is an effective treatment for muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (UC). In this study we treated noncystectomy candidates with daily radiation and weekly paclitaxel for 7xa0weeks. Patients whose tumors showed her2/neu overexpression were additionally treated with weekly trastuzumab.nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSnSixty-eight evaluable patients were treated with radiation therapy and either paclitaxelxa0+xa0trastuzumab (group 1) or paclitaxel alone (group 2). Groups were assigned on the basis of her2/neu immunohistochemistry results. Patients received 1.8-Gy fractions to a total dose of 64.8xa0Gy. The primary endpoint of the study was treatment-related toxicity, and secondary endpoints included complete response (CR) rate, protocol completion rate, and survival.nnnRESULTSnA total of 20 evaluable patients were treated in group 1 and 46 patients in group 2. Acute treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were observed in 7 of 20 patients in group 1 (35%) and 14 of 46 patients in group 2 (30.4%). Protocol therapy was completed by 60% (group 1) and 74% (group 2) of patients. Most incompletions were due to toxicity, and the majority of AEs were gastrointestinal, including 1 grade 5 AE (group 1). Two other deaths (both in group 2) were unrelated to protocol therapy. No unexpected cardiac, hematologic, or other toxicities were observed. The CR rate at 1 year was 72% for group 1 and 68% for group 2.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIn patients with muscle-invasive UC who are not candidates for cystectomy, daily radiation combined with paclitaxel is an effective treatment strategy with a high completion rate and moderate toxicity. In patients with her2/neu-positive tumors, a group generally considered to have worse outcomes, the addition of trastuzumab appears to result in comparable efficacy and toxicity. Further biomarker-driven trials should be undertaken in advancing treatment of this challenging disease.