Combination of docetaxel, ifosfamide and cisplatin (DIP) as a potential salvage chemotherapy for metastatic urothelial carcinoma

Comparison of efficacy and toxicity of second-line combination chemotherapy regimens in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicities of second-line chemotherapy regimens with docetaxel and gemcitabine (GD), or paclitaxel and gemcitabine (GP) for advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that did not respond to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

METHODS

From 2002 to 2017, 78 patients with metastatic UCs that progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy were treated with either GD (n = 41) or GP (n = 37). We compared these two different regimens by analyzing their efficacy and toxicities in a retrospective manner.

RESULTS

Of the 78 patients enrolled in this study, it was possible to determine treatment efficacy in 70; the proportion of patients with objective response and disease control were 8.6 (9/70) and 54.3% (38/70), respectively. The median progression-free survival and overall survival in the total population (GP and GD) were 3.5 (95% CI 0.6-53.3) and 9.6 months (95% CI 1.2-53.3), respectively. There was no significant difference between the two regimens (GD or GP) regarding survival outcomes. Treatment-related adverse events were mostly manageable, but one patient died as a result of febrile neutropenia. The presence of liver metastasis and anemia (Hb < 10.0 g/dl) was prognostic factors for worse survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Combination chemotherapy with either GP or GD was a favorable and well-tolerated second-line treatment regimen for patients with advanced or metastatic UC following the failure of a platinum-based regimen. Further study using a large prospective cohort is needed to identify patients who will benefit from second-line combination therapy.

Efficacy of post-nephroureterectomy cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a multi-institutional retrospective study

PURPOSE

To evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant systemic chemotherapy for locally advanced (pT3-4pN0/xM0) upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 109 patients with pT3-4pN0/xM0 UTUC who had undergone radical nephroureterectomy between 1996 and 2013 at our four institutions. The patients were divided into two groups: those who received adjuvant chemotherapy (AC group) and those who did not (surgery-alone: SA group). All chemotherapy regimens were cisplatin-based. Cox proportional hazards regression models addressed the associations between clinicopathological factors and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS).

RESULTS

Forty-three (39.5%) out of the 109 patients underwent one to four cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy after nephroureterectomy. Median follow-up was 46.5 months. There were no significant differences in the background characteristics of the two groups, except for age. Recurrence developed in 11 (25.6%) and 29 (43.9%) patients in the AC and SA groups, respectively. Ultimately, six (14.0%) and 18 (27.3%) patients in the AC and SA groups, respectively, died of disease progression. On univariate analysis, hydronephrosis, nuclear grade, lymphovascular invasion, and adjuvant chemotherapy were significantly associated with both RFS and CSS. Charlson comorbidity index was associated only with CSS. On multivariate analysis, adjuvant chemotherapy was the only independent factor associated with improved RFS (p = 0.0178, HR = 0.41). Moreover, adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.0375, HR = 0.33), lower nuclear grade (p = 0.0070), and the absence of hydronephrosis (p = 0.0493) were independently associated with better CSS.

CONCLUSION

Locally advanced (pT3-4pN0/xM0) UTUC patients who underwent cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated better RFS and CSS than those without adjuvant chemotherapy.

Effectiveness of capecitabine with or without docetaxel therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma: a single-institution experience

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and toxicity of capecitabine (C) chemotherapy regimen with or without (w/o) docetaxel (D) in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC).

RESULTS

Clinical benefit rate were similar in two arms (C arm vs DC arm: 38.9% vs 45.5%, p = 0.411). There were two cases achieved partial response in DC arm. In C arm, the median PFS was 3.0 months (95% CI 2.5-3.5 months) and median OS was 11.3 months (95% CI 8.6-14.1 months). In DC arm, the median PFS was 2.2 months (95% CI 1.7-2.7 months) and median OS was 18 months (95% CI 6.8-29.9 months). Adverse events were mostly acceptable, including myelosuppession, hand-foot syndrome and mucositis. Anemia and leukopenia was found more in the DC arm than in the C arm.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a one-center, observational, retrospective study. From April 2009 to March 2015, a total of 29 patients with metastatic UC were included in the study. Survivals, response rates and toxicities were collected retrospectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The result showed the activity and toxicity of C w/o D. As DC treatment did not reveal better outcome, C or D single-agent might be an option in platinum-failed patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. Further clinical trials are warranted.

Improved 5-Factor Prognostic Classification of Patients Receiving Salvage Systemic Therapy for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

PURPOSE

Prognostic factors in patients receiving salvage systemic therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma include performance status, liver metastasis, hemoglobin and time since chemotherapy. We investigated the impact of albumin, and neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patient level data from 10 phase II trials were used. Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to evaluate associations with overall survival. An optimal regression model was constructed using forward stepwise selection and risk groups were defined using the number of adverse factors. Trial was a stratification factor. External validation was done in a separate data set of 5 salvage phase II trials.

RESULTS

Discovery data were obtained on 708 patients. After adjustment for the 4 known factors a platelet count of the upper limit of normal or greater and albumin less than the lower limit of normal were significant poor prognostic factors. Only the addition of albumin was externally validated. For 0 or 1, 2 and 3 or greater risk factors median overall survival was 8.9, 6.4 and 4.5 months in 207, 171 and 113 patients in the discovery data set of 491, and 10.6, 10.0 and 7.0 months in 73, 47 and 47 patients, respectively, in the validation data set of 167. By adding albumin the c-index improved from 0.610 to 0.639 in the discovery set and from 0.616 to 0.646 in the validation set.

CONCLUSIONS

Albumin was externally validated as a prognostic factor for overall survival after accounting for time from prior chemotherapy, hemoglobin, performance status and liver metastasis status in patients receiving salvage systemic therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma. The discovery of molecular prognostic factors is a priority to further enhance this new preferred 5-factor clinical prognostic model.

Single-agent Taxane Versus Taxane-containing Combination Chemotherapy as Salvage Therapy for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Single-agent taxanes are commonly used as salvage systemic therapy for patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC).

OBJECTIVE

To study the impact of combination chemotherapy delivering a taxane plus other chemotherapeutic agents compared with single-agent taxane as salvage therapy.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Individual patient-level data from phase 2 trials of salvage systemic therapy were used.

INTERVENTIONS

Trials evaluating either single agents (paclitaxel or docetaxel) or combination chemotherapy (taxane plus one other chemotherapeutic agent or more) following prior platinum-based therapy were used.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Information regarding the known major baseline prognostic factors was required: time from prior chemotherapy, hemoglobin, performance status, albumin, and liver metastasis status. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the association of prognostic factors and combination versus single-agent chemotherapy with overall survival (OS).

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Data were available from eight trials including 370 patients; two trials (n=109) evaluated single-agent chemotherapy with docetaxel (n=72) and cremophor-free paclitaxel (n=37), and six trials (n=261) evaluated combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine-paclitaxel (two trials, with n=99 and n=24), paclitaxel-cyclophosphamide (n=32), paclitaxel-ifosfamide-nedaplatin (n=45), docetaxel-ifosfamide-cisplatin (n=26), and paclitaxel-epirubicin (n=35). On multivariable analysis after adjustment for baseline prognostic factors, combination chemotherapy was independently and significantly associated with improved OS (hazard ratio: 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.82; p=0.001). The retrospective design of this analysis and the trial-eligible population were inherent limitations.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients enrolled in trials of combination chemotherapy exhibited improved OS compared with patients enrolled in trials of single-agent chemotherapy as salvage therapy for advanced UC. Prospective randomized trials are required to validate a potential role for rational and tolerable combination chemotherapeutic regimens for the salvage therapy of advanced UC.

PATIENT SUMMARY

This retrospective study suggests that a combination of chemotherapy agents may extend survival compared with single-agent chemotherapy in selected patients with metastatic urothelial cancer progressing after prior chemotherapy.

Validation of major prognostic models for metastatic urothelial carcinoma using a multi-institutional cohort of the real world

BACKGROUND

Several prognostic models predicting survival of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) have been developed; however, of them, the first model by Bajorin in 1999 is still the most representative and widely used, and validations of newer models are lacking. This study aimed to validate three major prognostic models for metastatic UC constructed based on clinical trials.

METHODS

We reviewed 200 patients with metastatic UC who received first-line chemotherapy at our five affiliate institutions between 2003 and 2011. Using this multi-institutional cohort, we validated the following models: the "Bajorin model," a model consisting of visceral metastasis and performance status; the "Apolo model," a nomogram including visceral metastasis, performance status, albumin and hemoglobin; and the "Galsky model," a nomogram including leukocyte count, number of sites of visceral metastases, site of primary tumor, performance status and lymph node metastasis. Harrell's c-index was calculated for each model. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Among 200 patients, 171 (85.5%) died during the follow-up, with a median survival of 12.0 months. Multivariate analysis demonstrated ECOG performance status, visceral metastasis and leukocyte count to be independent predictors of overall survival. C-index results (95% confidence interval) were Bajorin: 0.86 (0.74-0.95); Apolo: 0.89 (0.78-0.98); and Galsky: 0.82 (0.69-0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

All models were demonstrated to have high external validities in real-world patients, and of them, the "Apolo model" achieved the highest c-index in the present population. Further studies with larger populations are needed for establishment of the next standard model.