Susan Loftus

Aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in children: a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial

BACKGROUND Oral aprepitant, a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, is recommended in combination with other anti-emetic agents for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy in adults, but its efficacy and safety in paediatric patients are unknown. We did this phase 3 trial to examine the safety and efficacy of such treatment in children. METHODS In this final analysis of a phase 3, randomised, multicentre, double-blind study, patients aged 6 months to 17 years with a documented malignancy who were scheduled to receive either moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy were randomly assigned with an interactive voice response system to an age-based and weight-based blinded regimen of aprepitant (125 mg for ages 12-17 years; 3·0 mg/kg up to 125 mg for ages 6 months to <12 years) plus ondansetron on day 1, followed by aprepitant (80 mg for ages 12-17 years; 2·0 mg/kg up to 80 mg for ages 6 months to <12 years) on days 2 and 3, or placebo plus ondansetron on day 1 followed by placebo on days 2 and 3; addition of dexamethasone was allowed. Randomisation was stratified according to patient age, planned use of chemotherapy associated with very high risk of emetogenicity, and planned use of dexamethasone as an anti-emetic. Ondansetron was dosed per the product label for paediatric use or local standard of care. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients who achieved complete response (defined as no vomiting, no retching, and no use of rescue medication) during the 25-120 h (delayed phase) after initiation of emetogenic chemotherapy. Efficacy and safety analyses were done with all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of study treatment. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01362530. FINDINGS Between Sept 22, 2011, and Aug 16, 2013, 307 patients were randomly assigned at 49 sites in 24 countries to either the aprepitant group (155 patients) or to the control group (152 patients). Three patients in the aprepitant group and two in the control group did not receive study medication, and thus were excluded from analyses. 77 (51%) of 152 patients in the aprepitant group and 39 (26%) of 150 in the control group achieved a complete response in the delayed phase (p<0·0001). The most common grade 3-4 adverse events were febrile neutropenia (23 [15%] of 152 in the aprepitant group vs 21 [14%] of 150 in the control group), anaemia (14 [9%] vs 26 [17%]), and decreased neutrophil count (11 [7%] vs 17 [11%]). The most common serious adverse event was febrile neutropenia (23 [15%] patients in the aprepitant group vs 22 [15%] in the control group). INTERPRETATION Addition of aprepitant to ondansetron with or without dexamethasone is effective for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in paediatric patients being treated with moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy. FUNDING Merck & Co., Inc.

Aprepitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in paediatric subjects: An analysis by age group

This was a subgroup analysis of age group, dexamethasone use, and very highly emetogenic chemotherapy (VHEC) use from a randomised, multicentre, double‐blind, Phase 3 study of oral aprepitant in paediatric subjects.

1337PDEFFECTS OF PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS ON THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF APREPITANT IN A PEDIATRIC POPULATION

– In the primary analysis from this study, treatment with aprepitant resulted in a greater proportion of patients achieving complete response (CR) in the delayed phase (25–120 hours after chemotherapy initiation) than the standard regimen alone (51% vs 26%, P < 0.0001) 7 • CR was defined as “no vomiting or retching and no use of rescue medication” – CR was also greater with the aprepitant regimen vs the control regimen in the acute (66% vs 52%; P = 0.0135) and overall phases (40% vs 20%; P = 0.0002) 7

1338PDEMESIS RATE AND RESCUE MEDICATION USE IN CHILDREN USING APREPITANT TO PREVENT CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED NAUSEA AND VOMITING (CINV)

ABSTRACT Aim: Aprepitant, in combination with a 5HT3-antagonist and a corticosteroid, is indicated for prevention of CINV due to highly/moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (chemo) in adults. To evaluate aprepitant for CINV prevention in children, a phase III, randomized, double-blind, active-comparator study was conducted in pediatric patients (NCT01362530). Methods: Patients ages 12-17 years (y) undergoing highly/moderately emetogenic chemo received aprepitant capsule 125 mg + ondansetron before chemo (Day 1) + aprepitant capsule 80 mg (Days 2-3), OR placebo (Days 1-3) + ondansetron (Day 1). Patients 6 months to Results: Efficacy and safety were evaluated in 152 aprepitant and 150 control patients. The proportion of patients experiencing no emetic episodes was higher in the aprepitant regimen vs the control regimen during both acute (71.1% vs 53.3%) and delayed (55.3% vs 28.0%) phases. The median time to first vomiting (overall) was significantly longer for aprepitant vs control (94.5 vs 26.0 hours; P Conclusions: In pediatric patients with cancer receiving emetogenic chemo, the 3-day aprepitant regimen prevented emetic episodes and reduced the need for rescue medication compared with a 5HT3-antagonist regimen without aprepitant. Disclosure: H.J. Kang: Received research funding from Merck & Co., Inc. MK869 PN208 study involvement; S. Loftus: Full-time employee of Merck & Co., Inc., with stock ownership; A. Taylor: Full-time employee of Merck & Co., Inc.; C. Dicristina: Full-time employee of Merck & Co., Inc.; S. Green: Full-time employee of Merck & Co., Inc., with stock ownership. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.