Sharon Pan

Cardiovascular safety of the cyclooxygenase-2 selective inhibitors parecoxib and valdecoxib in the postoperative setting: an analysis of integrated data.

BACKGROUND: Studies of parecoxib, the inactive prodrug of the cyclooxygenase-2 selective inhibitor valdecoxib, and valdecoxib for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery revealed an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) adverse events compared with placebo. We conducted this study to address whether parecoxib and valdecoxib increased CV risk in noncardiac surgery patients. METHODS: A pooled post hoc analysis was conducted using 2 large datasets: 17 controlled trials of parecoxib for noncardiac studies and 32 studies, including the 17 noncardiac parecoxib studies plus 15 studies of valdecoxib. The 32-study dataset provided 95% power to detect a twofold increase in the incidence of CV adverse events assuming a placebo group incidence of 1% (estimated from previous study data), and 69% power to detect a twofold increase from a 0.5% incidence. RESULTS: The incidence of total CV events for the 17 parecoxib studies was 0.44% (13 of 2966) in patients who received parecoxib and 0.37% (7 of 1915) in those receiving placebo (P > 0.20). In the analysis of 32 studies, the incidence of total CV events was 0.40% (21 of 5285) in the parecoxib/valdecoxib group compared with 0.50% (16 of 3226) in the placebo group (P > 0.20). No significant differences in the incidence of total or any individual CV event category were observed between the parecoxib or parecoxib/valdecoxib and placebo groups in the two analyses. When patients were stratified by number of baseline CV risk factors, no significant difference in CV events was detected in parecoxib/valdecoxib patients compared with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest analysis of the CV risk of cyclooxygenase selective inhibitors or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for perioperative pain management, parecoxib and valdecoxib were not found to increase the risk of CV adverse events after noncardiac surgery.

Utility and Sensitivity of the Sore Throat Pain Model: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial on the COX‐2 Selective Inhibitor Valdecoxib

The sore throat pain model was employed in this randomized, placebo‐controlled trial to examine the sensitivity of the model in testing the efficacy of valdecoxib as an acute analgesic drug. Changes were made to the study design by employing a different diagnostic index for tonsillo‐pharyngitis, a different rating scale (derived from Lasagnas pain thermometer), and alternative analyses, individual responder rates. Under double‐blind conditions, 197 patients with painful pharyngitis were randomly allocated to valdecoxib 20 mg bid (n = 65), valdecoxib 40 mg qd (n = 66), or placebo (n = 66) for 24 hours. The expanded Tonsillo‐Pharyngitis Assessment and the Lasagna Pain Scale were validated as sensitive study instruments. Both dosage regimens provided significantly greater pain relief compared with placebo on standard efficacy measures over the 24‐hour study (all P < .05). Tests for individual response (eg, percentage of patients with at least moderate relief) confirmed these results, and other response rates identified the high sensitivity of the model itself (eg, only 5% of placebo‐treated patients achieved ≥50% of maximum total pain relief over 6 hours). These findings indicate that sore throat is a sensitive model to assess analgesic efficacy.

Intramuscular ziprasidone versus haloperidol for managing agitation in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Abstract Intramuscular (IM) antipsychotics are preferred for efficient control of agitation symptoms. Previous studies have demonstrated that IM ziprasidone is efficacious and safe for treatment of agitation in schizophrenia. However, clinicians now recognize that racial differences may contribute to altered therapeutic response and tolerability. This study compared the efficacy and tolerability of IM ziprasidone versus IM haloperidol for the management of agitation in Chinese subjects with schizophrenia. Subjects with acute schizophrenia were randomized to either ziprasidone (n = 189, 10 to 20 mg as required up to a maximum of 40 mg/d) or haloperidol (n = 187, 5 mg every 4 to 8 hours to a maximum of 20 mg/d) for 3 days. Psychiatric assessments and adverse events were assessed at baseline, 2, 4, 24, 48, and 72 hours. In the ziprasidone group, 2.1% of subjects discontinued versus 3.7% in the haloperidol group. The least squares mean change (SE) from baseline to 72 hours in Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale total score was −17.32 (0.7) for ziprasidone (n = 167) and −18.44 (0.7) for haloperidol (n = 152), with a 95% confidence interval treatment difference of −0.7 to 2.9. Fewer subjects experienced adverse events after ziprasidone (n = 54, 28.6%) than haloperidol (n = 116, 62.0%), with a notably higher incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms in the haloperidol group (n = 69, 36.9%) compared to the ziprasidone group (n = 4, 2.1%). For controlling agitation in schizophrenia in this Chinese study, ziprasidone had a favorable tolerability profile and comparable efficacy and safety compared to haloperidol.

Efficacy and Safety of Celecoxib in Chinese Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A 6-Week Randomized, Double-Blinded Study with 6-Week Open-Label Extension Treatment

Background Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the first-line option for treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in China. However, no large-scale controlled trials have been conducted in this ethnic population. Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 6 weeks’ treatment with celecoxib in patients with AS in China. Methods This Phase 3, double-blind, parallel-group study randomized patients with AS aged ≥18 to 65 years 1:1 to receive celecoxib 200 mg once daily or diclofenac sustained release 75 mg once daily. After 6 weeks, patients could use celecoxib 400 mg once daily or maintain blinded therapy. The primary efficacy end point was mean change from baseline at Week 6 for Patient’s Global Assessment of Pain Intensity score (100-mm visual analog scale). Noninferiority was established if the upper bound of the CI was <10 mm. Secondary objectives included patients’ and physicians’ assessments of disease activity, change from baseline in C-reactive protein level, and safety. Results In the per-protocol analysis set the least squares mean change from baseline in the Patient’s Global Assessment of Pain Intensity score at Week 6 was –23.8 mm and –27.1 mm in patients receiving celecoxib (n = 111) and diclofenac (n = 108), respectively. The 2-sided 95% CI for the treatment difference (celecoxib – diclofenac) was –2.2 to 8.8. Overall, 4.2% and 6.7% of patients in the celecoxib and diclofenac groups, respectively, reported treatment-related adverse events. All were mild to moderate in severity. Conclusions Celecoxib 200 mg once daily is noninferior to diclofenac sustained release 75 mg once daily for pain treatment in Chinese patients with AS. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00762463.

Hypertension and myelosuppression as biomarkers of sunitinib efficacy in Chinese patients (pts) with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

426 Background: In an open-label, phase IV study of sunitinib as 1st-line treatment (Tx) in Chinese pts with mRCC, median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 61.7 and 133.4 wk, respectively; objective response rate (ORR) was 31.1% (Ann Oncol 2012;23:851P). We retrospectively investigated correlations between on-Tx hypertension (HTN), neutropenia (N), and thrombocytopenia (T) and efficacy endpoints in pts from this trial. METHODS HTN was defined by either maximum systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg (S-HTN) or maximum diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg (D-HTN). Using CTCAE assessment, N grade ≥2 and T grade >1 were used as cut-points for the analyses. Median PFS and OS were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test was used to compare PFS and OS between groups with and without HTN, N grade ≥2, or T grade >1. Fishers exact test was used for ORR. RESULTS 102 pts were included in the HTN analyses, 60% with S-HTN versus 40% without S-HTN. Pts with S-HTN had greater ORR and longer PFS and OS than pts without S-HTN (Table). (Results were similar with D-HTN; see Table.) 103 pts were included in the N and T analyses, 67% with N grade ≥2 versus 33% with N grade <2, and 56% with T grade >1 versus 44% with T grade ≤1. Pts with N grade ≥2 had significantly greater ORR and significantly longer PFS and OS than pts with N grade <2 (Table). Pts with T grade >1 had greater ORR and significantly longer PFS and OS than pts with T grade ≤1 (Table). CONCLUSIONS The developments of N grade ≥2 and T grade >1 during Tx with sunitinib were significantly associated with better outcome. Median PFS was more than twice as long for pts with S-HTN as for those without S-HTN, but the association did not reach statistical significance. [Table: see text].