Shude Cui

Utidelone plus capecitabine versus capecitabine alone for heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer refractory to anthracyclines and taxanes: a multicentre, open-label, superiority, phase 3, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND Utidelone, a genetically engineered epothilone analogue, has shown promise as a potential treatment for breast cancer in phase 1 and 2 trials. The aim of this phase 3 trial was to compare the efficacy and safety of utidelone plus capecitabine versus capecitabine alone in patients with metastatic breast cancer. METHODS We did a multicentre, open-label, superiority, phase 3, randomised controlled trial in 26 hospitals in China. Eligible participants were female patients with metastatic breast cancer refractory to anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy regimens. We randomly assigned participants (2:1) using computer based randomisation and block sizes of 6 to a 21-day cycle of either utidelone (30 mg/m2 intravenously once per day on days 1-5) plus capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 orally twice per day on days 1-14), or capecitabine alone (1250 mg/m2 orally twice per day on days 1-14), until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Patients, physicians, and assessors were not masked to treatment allocation; however, an independent radiology review committee used to additionally assess response was masked to allocation. The primary endpoint was centrally assessed (by an independent radiology review committee) progression-free survival, and analysed using the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all participants who received at least one dose of study drug. Follow-up is ongoing. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02253459. FINDINGS Between Aug 8, 2014, and Dec 14, 2015, we enrolled and randomly assigned 270 patients to treatment with utidelone plus capecitabine, and 135 to capecitabine alone. Median follow-up for progression-free survival was 6·77 months (IQR 3·81-10·32) for the utidelone plus capecitabine group and 4·55 months (2·55-9·39) for the capecitabine alone group. Median progression-free survival by central review in the utidelone plus capecitabine group was 8·44 months (95% CI 7·95-9·92) compared with 4·27 months (3·22-5·68) in the capecitabine alone group; hazard ratio 0·46, 95% CI 0·36-0·59; p<0·0001. Peripheral neuropathy was the most common grade 3 adverse event in the utidelone plus capecitabine group (58 [22%] of 267 patients vs 1 [<1%] of 130 patients in the capecitabine alone group). Palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia was the most prominent grade 3 adverse event in the capacitabine alone group (in 10 [8%] of 130 patients) and was the next most frequent grade 3 event in the utidelone plus capecitabine group (in 18 [7%] of 267 patients). 16 serious adverse events were reported in the combination therapy group (diarrhoea was the most common, in three [1%] patients) and 14 serious adverse events were reported in the monotherapy group (the most common were diarrhoea, increased blood bilirubin, and anaemia, in two [2%] patients for each event). 155 patients died (99 in the combination therapy arm, 56 in the monotherapy arm). All deaths were related to disease progression except for one in each group (attributed to pericardial effusion in the combination therapy group and dyspnoea in the monotherapy group) that were considered possibly or probably treatment-related. INTERPRETATION Despite disease progression with previous chemotherapies, utidelone plus capecitabine was more efficacious compared with capecitabine alone for the outcome of progression-free survival, with mild toxicity except for peripheral sensory neuropathy, which was manageable. The findings from this study support the use of utidelone plus capecitabine as an effective option for patients with metastatic breast cancer. FUNDING Beijing Biostar Technologies, Beijing, China.

National consensus in China on diagnosis and treatment of patients with advanced breast cancer

The recently available guidelines on the management of advanced breast cancer (ABC) organized by Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, Committee of Breast Cancer Society (CACA-CBCS) do not elucidate ABC in details. To instruct clinicians in treatment of ABC, a Chinese expert consensus meeting on diagnosis and treatment of ABC was held in June 2014 and a consensus is developed. The following consensus provides the level of evidence and supporting documents for each recommendation, and introduces research topics to be urgently addressed. Notably, the consensus on diagnosis and treatment of ABC in China is developed to be applied nationwide. In different areas, multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) tailored to the each patient and the disease itself should be applied based on the basic principles of modern oncology.

Outcomes of re-treatment with first-line trastuzumab plus a taxane in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients after (neo)adjuvant trastuzumab: A prospective multicenter study

Trastuzumab is the backbone of HER2-positive early breast cancer (eBC) and metastatic breast cancer (mBC) treatment, but limited data exist as to re-treatment in relapsed patients. In this prospective, single arm, multicenter trial, we assessed efficacy and safety of trastuzumab and taxane combination in Chinese patients with HER2-positive mBC relapsed after prior (neo)adjuvant trastuzumab. Patients with previous (neo)adjuvant trastuzumab treatment for≥9 weeks and a relapse-free interval ≥6 months were assigned to trastuzumab treatment with paclitaxel or docetaxel. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR), duration of response (DOR), time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS) and safety profile. Thirty-two patients were enrolled and treated for a median duration of 33.5 weeks. The median PFS was 9.9 months (95% CI, 6.28 - 13.63 months). The ORR was 81.3% (95% CI, 63.6% - 92.8%) and CBR (CR+PR+SD≥6months) was 81.3% (95% CI, 63.6% - 92.8%). The median DOR was 9.8 months (95% CI, 5.82 - 11.60 months) and median TTP was 9.9 months (95% CI, 6.28-13.63 months). OS median follow-up time was 20.1 months and 25% OS time was 25.5 months. The safety profile was acceptable with common adverse events including leukopenia (59.4%), neutropenia (56.3%), hypoaesthesia (34.4%) and granulocytopenia (31.3%). In conclusion, re-treatment with trastuzumab plus a taxane as first-line therapy is an effective regimen for patients with HER2-positive mBC relapsed after (neo)adjuvant trastuzumab. The safety profile was good and the adverse reactions were tolerable and manageable.