Frequency of low-grade adverse events and quality of life during chemotherapy determine patients' judgement about treatment in advanced-stage thoracic cancer

SOHO State of the Art Updates and Next Questions | Measuring Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Treatment Tolerability in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies

There has been a rapid expansion of novel therapeutics for hematologic malignancies, including monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, and cellular therapies, which confer different treatment-related toxicities and symptomatic adverse events (AEs) than traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies. Given that patients with blood cancers are living longer with these newer treatments, with some therapies requiring indefinite or time-intensive administration, consideration of patient-reported tolerability and effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are increasingly relevant. Historically, clinical trials have focused on the efficacy and safety of therapies. While related to safety and not intended to replace it, "treatment tolerability" is a distinct construct defined as the extent to which symptomatic and nonsymptomatic AEs impact a patient's ability and desire to continue with current treatment dosing, which also encompasses how patients feel and function while undergoing anticancer therapies. Assessment of tolerability requires the systematic and rigorous measurement of patient-reported outcomes (PROs). In this review, we discuss the introduction of patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) into hematology clinical trials and how PROs inform the measurement of treatment tolerability, including symptomatic adverse events, physical and role functioning, and overall side effect burden. Selected PROMs for measurement of these core tolerability domains are outlined, with a focus on novel analytic tools that have been developed for the longitudinal analysis of tolerability data. Further, we outline ongoing studies to accelerate integration of PROs throughout the cancer care spectrum, from early-stage drug development to routine clinical care, with the goal of improving both HRQoL and survival.

Cost-effectiveness of systematic chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer: a retrospective study using Japanese clinical data

We compared the cost-effectiveness of gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (GnP) and modified FOLFIRINOX (mFFX)-standard first-line treatments for metastatic pancreatic cancer in Japan. This retrospective cohort study included patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Japan between December 2013 and February 2017. A partitioned survival model, featuring five mutually exclusive health states, was developed. A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to obtain total costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). A 2% annual discount rate was applied to costs and outcomes. Parameter uncertainty effect was assessed using a one-way sensitivity analysis. mFFX treatment involved intravenous infusions of oxaliplatin, levofolinate, and irinotecan, whereas GnP treatment involved weekly intravenous administration of nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine. Dosages were adjusted based on observed adverse events. The total costs of the mFFX and GnP arms were JPY 3,193,597 (USD 31,006) and JPY 3,913,171 (USD 37,992), respectively. Incremental total costs of JPY 719,574 (USD 6,986) were associated with GnP compared to mFFX. Total QALYs were 0.427 and 0.435 for mFFX and GnP, respectively. Therefore, GnP has slightly higher QALYs than mFFX in Japanese real-world clinical practice, suggesting it has a potentially better safety profile, although the impact on healthcare costs persists.

Opioids for the palliation of symptoms in people with serious respiratory illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

People living with serious respiratory illness experience a high burden of distressing symptoms. Although opioids are prescribed for symptom management, they generate adverse events, and their benefits are unclear.

METHODS

We examined the efficacy and safety of opioids for symptom management in people with serious respiratory illness. Embase, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched up to 11 July 2022. Reports of randomised controlled trials administering opioids to treat symptoms in people with serious respiratory illness were included. Key exclusion criteria included <80% of participants having a nonmalignant lung disease. Data were extracted regarding study characteristics, outcomes of breathlessness, cough, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and adverse events. Treatment effects were pooled using a generic inverse variance model with random effects. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool version 1.

RESULTS

Out of 17 included trials, six were laboratory-based exercise trials (n=70), 10 were home studies measuring breathlessness in daily life (n=788) and one (n=18) was conducted in both settings. Overall certainty of evidence was "very low" to "low". Opioids reduced breathlessness intensity during laboratory exercise testing (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.37, 95% CI -0.67- -0.07), but not breathlessness measured in daily life (SMD -0.10, 95% CI -0.64-0.44). No effects on HRQoL (SMD -0.42, 95% CI -0.98-0.13) or cough (SMD -1.42, 95% CI -3.99-1.16) were detected. In at-home studies, opioids led to increased frequency of nausea/vomiting (OR 3.32, 95% CI 1.70-6.51), constipation (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.69-5.61) and drowsiness (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.01-1.86), with serious adverse events including hospitalisation and death identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Opioids improved exertional breathlessness in laboratory exercise studies, but did not improve breathlessness, cough or HRQoL measured in daily life at home. There were significant adverse events, which may outweigh any benefits.

Pharmaceutical intervention for adverse events improves quality of life in patients with cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy

Background

The effect of pharmaceutical intervention to treat adverse events on quality of life (QOL) in outpatients receiving cancer chemotherapy is unclear. We investigated whether pharmaceutical intervention provided by pharmacists in collaboration with physicians improves QOL with outpatient cancer chemotherapy.

Methods

We conducted a single-center retrospective descriptive study of pharmaceutical intervention for patients receiving outpatient cancer chemotherapy at Gifu University Hospital between September 2017 and July 2020. We assessed patient QOL using the Japanese version of the EuroQol 5 Dimension5 Level (EQ-5D-5L). Adverse events were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0. We compared the EQ-5D-5L utility value and incidence of grade 2 or higher adverse events before and after pharmaceutical intervention.

Results

Our analysis included 151 patients who underwent 210 chemotherapy cycles. Pharmaceutical intervention significantly improved patients’ EQ-5D-5L utility values from 0.8197 to 0.8603 (P < 0.01). EQ-5D-5L utility values were significantly improved after pharmaceutical intervention for nausea and vomiting (pre-intervention 0.8145, post-intervention 0.8603, P = 0.016), peripheral neuropathy (pre-intervention 0.7798, post-intervention 0.7988, P = 0.032) and pain (pre-intervention 0.7625, post-intervention 0.8197, P = 0.035). Although not statistically significant, the incidence of grade 2 or higher adverse events, including nausea and vomiting, dermopathy, pain, oral mucositis, diarrhea and dysgeusia, tended to be lower post-intervention than pre-intervention.

Conclusions

Pharmaceutical intervention by pharmacists in collaboration with physicians may improve QOL in patients undergoing outpatient cancer chemotherapy.

Impact of patient-reported outcomes on symptom monitoring during treatment with checkpoint inhibitors: health-related quality of life among melanoma patients in a randomized controlled trial

Introduction

In a randomized controlled trial, we previously investigated if melanoma patients receiving checkpoint inhibitors had fewer severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs) when they reported symptoms using electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) with triggered alerts as an add-on to standard care, compared to standard care alone. The aim of this study is to examine between-group differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associations between irAEs severity and HRQoL.

Methods

The study population of 138 patients completed the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L Index and FACT-M questionnaires at baseline and weeks 24 and 48. We analyzed HRQoL from all patients who completed at least one questionnaire. Missing FACT-M items were imputed following existing guidelines.

Results

There was no difference in HRQoL at baseline as measured EQ-5D-5L between the intervention and the control group. Between baseline and 48 weeks, mean EQ-5D-5L scores were unchanged among patients in the intervention group (p = 0.81) but decreased significantly among patients in the control group (p = 0.03). Consequently, patients in the intervention group had higher mean scores than those in the control group (p = 0.05) at 48 weeks. Mean FACT-M scores did not differ significantly between the two groups at any of the time points. There were observed no between-group differences in mean EQ-5D-5 and mean FACT-M scores between patients with severe irAEs and patients who had none.

Conclusion

Melanoma patients receiving CPIs who self-reported irAEs using ePRO with triggered alerts as a supplement to standard care maintained their HRQoL compared to patients who received standard care alone. Patients in the intervention group had a significantly better HRQoL measured by EQ-5D-5L than controls 48 weeks after baseline. The results suggest that including ePRO in standard care increases melanoma patients´ well-being. Further and larger studies are needed to confirm this finding and examine the impact of severe irAEs on cancer patients’ HRQoL.

Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03073031 Registered 8 March 2017, Retrospectively registeredhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41687-022-00414-5.

Anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy are associated with a decrease in quality of life in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy - a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Cancer chemotherapy usually improves clinical outcomes in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC), but can also cause moderate-to-severe adverse events (AEs). We investigated the relationship between moderate-to-severe AEs and quality of life (QOL) in patients with APC who received outpatient chemotherapy.

METHODS

We recruited APC patients who received outpatient chemotherapy in Gifu University Hospital between September 2017 and December 2018. Adverse events related to chemotherapy were assessed by a pharmacist collaborating with a physician using common terminology criteria for AEs (CTCAE) ver 4.0, and QOL of patients was self-assessed by patients using the five-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L Japanese edition 2). Associations between the EQ-5D-5L utility value and serious AEs were assessed using proportional odds logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 59 patients who received 475 chemotherapy cycles were included. The proportional odds logistic regression indicated that grade ≥ 2 anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy were significantly correlated with a decreased EQ-5D-5L utility value. Pharmaceutical intervention for these AEs significantly improved the patients' EQ-5D-5L utility value.

CONCLUSIONS

Anorexia, pain and peripheral neuropathy were significantly associated with a decrease in QOL. It is assumed that appropriate pharmaceutical intervention with particular emphasis on these AEs can improve the QOL of pancreatic cancer patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy.

Reporting the trajectories of adverse events over the entire treatment course in patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer treated with platinum-based combination chemotherapy regimens: A graphical approach to trial adverse event reporting

BACKGROUND

Clinical trials report adverse events (AEs) in a dense table focusing on the frequency of 'worst grade' AEs experienced over the duration of treatment. There is usually no granular information provided on the timing and trajectory of AEs or whether they are likely to worsen, improve, or remain constant over time.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Non-hematologic (NH) AE data was extracted from the CALYPSO trial comparing carboplatin with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (CD) to carboplatin with paclitaxel (CP) in recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC). Generalised estimating equations (GEE) were used to assess the risk and trajectory of combined Grade 2 or higher (G2+) AE and of each specific AE. The risk of G2+AE was also compared between treatment arms.

RESULTS

The study included 976 patients and AE were reported for the duration of treatment. Most patients experienced at least one G2+NHAE (CP:CD, 96.0%:80.6%). Risk of combined G2+AE increased with CP (4.1% per-cycle) but decreased with CD (0.8%, P <0.01). When alopecia and sensory neuropathy were excluded, risk of G2+ AE decreased by 2.7% per-cycle, with no significant difference between treatment arms. G2+ nausea improved (15.2% per-cycle, P <0.01). G2+ sensory neuropathy worsened (29.3% per-cycle, P <0.01). Fatigue was stable (17% per-cycle, P =0.06) whilst G2+ pain decreased over time (13.4% per-cycle, P <0.01), with no difference between treatment arms.

CONCLUSION

Existing trial data can be used to provide AE trajectories as illustrated here for ROC. These trajectories have utility in guiding treatment choice and potentially optimising AE management with novel therapies and treatment combinations.

Real-world data of the association between quality of life using the EuroQol 5 Dimension 5 Level utility value and adverse events for outpatient cancer chemotherapy

Background

Outpatient cancer chemotherapy may lead to improved quality of life (QOL) by allowing treatment to continue without impairing the social lives of patients compared with hospitalization. However, the occurrence of serious adverse events may cause a decline in QOL. We investigated the relationship between outpatient chemotherapy–induced adverse events and QOL.

Methods

A single-center retrospective descriptive study was conducted in patients who received outpatient chemotherapy at Gifu University Hospital (Gifu, Japan) between September 2017 and December 2018. The utility values of QOL, type and severity of adverse events, type of cancer, chemotherapy regimen, and other patient demographics were analyzed. Adverse events were graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.0. QOL was evaluated using the Japanese version of the EuroQol 5 Dimension 5 Level (EQ-5D-5L). Associations between the EQ-5D-5L utility value and serious adverse events were assessed using adjusted (age and sex) odds ratios obtained with a proportional odds logistic regression model.

Results

Data from 1008 patients who received 4695 chemotherapy cycles were analyzed. According to proportional odds logistic regression, the adverse events that significantly correlated with a decreased EQ-5D-5L utility value were malaise, edema of the limbs, peripheral neuropathy, pruritus, and dry skin. Based on the proportional odds logistic analysis, neither cancer type nor anticancer drugs were significantly correlated with the EQ-5D-5L utility value in patients who received chemotherapy. Pharmaceutical care for peripheral neuropathy significantly improved patients’ EQ-5D-5L utility value from 0.747 to 0.776 (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Adverse events (i.e., peripheral neuropathy, malaise, and edema of the limbs) are significantly correlated with a decrease in QOL, regardless of the type of cancer or anticancer drugs used. Pharmaceutical care provided by pharmacists in collaboration with physicians may improve QOL.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s00520-020-05443-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.