Effectiveness and safety of primary prophylaxis of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor during dose-dense chemotherapy for urothelial cancer: Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Use of G-CSF 2022

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) decreases the incidence, duration, and severity of febrile neutropenia (FN); however, dose reduction or withdrawal is often preferred in the management of adverse events in the treatment of urothelial cancer. It is also important to maintain therapeutic intensity in order to control disease progression and thereby relieve symptoms, such as hematuria, infection, bleeding, and pain, as well as to prolong the survival. In this clinical question, we compared treatment with primary prophylactic administration of G-CSF to maintain therapeutic intensity with conventional standard therapy without G-CSF and examined the benefits and risks as major outcomes. A detailed literature search for relevant studies was performed using PubMed, Ichu-shi Web, and Cochrane Library. Data were extracted and evaluated independently by two reviewers. A qualitative analysis of the pooled data was performed, and the risk ratios with corresponding confidence intervals were calculated and summarized in a meta-analysis. Seven studies were included in the qualitative analysis, two of which were reviewed in the meta-analysis of dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC) therapy, and one randomized controlled study showed a reduction in the incidence of FN. Primary prophylactic administration of G-CSF may be beneficial, as shown in a randomized controlled study of dose-dense MVAC therapy. However, there are no studies on other regimens, and we made a "weak recommendation to perform" with an annotation of the relevant regimen (dose-dense MVAC).

The phase 2 LYSA study of prednisone, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and bendamustine for untreated Hodgkin lymphoma in older patients

ABSTRACT

Older patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) require more effective and less toxic therapies than younger patients. In this multicenter, prospective, phase 2 study, we investigated a new firstline therapy regimen comprising 6 cycles of prednisone (40 mg/m2, days 1-5), vinblastine (6 mg/m2, day 1), doxorubicin (40 mg/m2, day 1), and bendamustine (120 mg/m2, day 1) (PVAB regimen) every 21 days for patients with newly diagnosed cHL aged ≥61 years with an advanced Ann Arbor stage. A Mini Nutritional Assessment score ≥17 was the cutoff value for patients aged ≥70 years. The primary end point was the complete metabolic response (CMR) rate after 6 cycles. The median age of the 89 included patients was 68 years (range, 61-88 years), with 35 patients (39%) aged ≥70 years. Seventy-eight patients (88%) completed the 6 cycles. The toxicity rate was acceptable, with a 20% rate of related serious adverse events. CMR was achieved by 69 patients (77.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 67-86). After a median follow-up of 42 months, 31 patients progressed or relapsed (35%), and 24 died (27%) from HL (n = 11), toxicity during treatment (n = 4), secondary cancers (n = 6), or other causes (n = 3). The 4-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rates were 50% and 69%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that liver involvement (P = .001), lymphopenia (P = .001), CRP (P = .0005), and comedications (P = .003) were independently associated with PFS. The PVAB regimen yielded a high CMR rate with acceptable toxicity. Over long-term follow-up, survival end points were influenced by unrelated lymphoma events. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02414568 and at EudraCT as 2014-001002-17.

Perioperative dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (VESPER): survival endpoints at 5 years in an open-label, randomised, phase 3 study

BACKGROUND

The optimal perioperative chemotherapy for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer is not defined. The VESPER (French Genito-Urinary Tumor Group and French Association of Urology V05) trial reported improved 3-year progression-free survival with dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin (dd-MVAC) versus gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) in patients who received neoadjuvant therapy, but not in the overall perioperative setting. In this Article, we report on the secondary endpoints of overall survival and time to death due to bladder cancer at 5-year follow-up.

METHODS

VESPER was an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial done at 28 university hospitals or comprehensive cancer centres in France, in which adults (age ≤18 years and ≤80 years) with primary bladder cancer and histologically confirmed muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma were randomly allocated (1:1; block size four) to treatment with dd-MVAC (every 2 weeks for a total of six cycles) or GC (every 3 weeks for a total of four cycles). Overall survival and time to death due to bladder cancer (presented as 5-year cumulative incidence of death due to bladder cancer) was analysed by intention to treat (ITT) in all randomly assigned patients. Overall survival was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method with the treatment groups compared with log-rank test stratified for mode of administration of chemotherapy (neoadjuvant or adjuvant) and lymph node involvement. Time to death due to bladder cancer was analysed with an Aalen model for competing risks and a Fine and Gray regression model stratified for the same two covariates. Results were presented for the total perioperative population and for the neoadjuvant and adjuvant subgroups. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01812369, and is complete.

FINDINGS

From Feb 25, 2013, to March 1, 2018, 500 patients were randomly assigned, of whom 493 were included in the final ITT population (245 [50%] in the GC group and 248 [50%] in the dd-MVAC group; 408 [83%] male and 85 [17%] female). 437 (89%) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 5·3 years (IQR 5·1-5·4); 190 deaths at the 5-year cutoff were reported. In the perioperative setting (total ITT population), we found no evidence of association of overall survival at 5 years with dd-MVAC treatment versus GC treatment (64% [95% CI 58-70] vs 56% [50-63], stratified hazard ratio [HRstrat] 0·79 [95% CI 0·59-1·05]). Time to death due to bladder cancer was increased in the dd-MVAC group compared with in the GC group (5-year cumulative incidence of death: 27% [95% CI 21-32] vs 40% [34-46], HRstrat 0·61 [95% CI 0·45-0·84]). In the neoadjuvant subgroup, overall survival at 5 years was improved in the dd-MVAC group versus the GC group (66% [95% CI 60-73] vs 57% [50-64], HR 0·71 [95% CI 0·52-0·97]), as was time to death due to bladder cancer (5-year cumulative incidence: 24% [18-30] vs 38% [32-45], HR 0·55 [0·39-0·78]). In the adjuvant subgroup, the results were not conclusive due to the small sample size. Bladder cancer progression was the cause of death for 157 (83%) of the 190 deaths; other causes of death included cardiovascular events (eight [4%] deaths), deaths related to chemotherapy toxicity (four [2%]), and secondary cancers (four [2%]).

INTERPRETATION

Our results on overall survival at 5 years were in accordance with the primary endpoint analysis (3-year progression-free survival). We found no evidence of improved overall survival with dd-MVAC over GC in the perioperative setting, but the data support the use of six cycles of dd-MVAC over four cycles of GC in the neoadjuvant setting. These results should impact practice and future trials of immunotherapy in bladder cancer.

FUNDING

French National Cancer Institute.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with dose-dense MVAC in muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a tertiary center experience

PURPOSE

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients has proven beneficial in overall survival. However, the optimal regimen is still a matter of debate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this retrospective analysis, we evaluate the results obtained in 42 patients treated in our center with 4 cycles of neoadjuvant dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (dd-MVAC) followed by radical cystectomy from August 2015 to October 2020. All patients had cT2 or higher non-metastatic MIBC. Clinical and pathological outcomes are reported.

RESULTS

Of the 42 patients, 90.5% were men (n = 38) and the mean age was 65 years. All of them had ECOG 0-1 at diagnosis and most tumors had an initial clinical stage T2N0 (76%). Thirty-six patients (85.7%) completed 4 cycles of neoadjuvant treatment, and 21.4% required a dose reduction. The most frequent adverse event (AE) was grade 1-2 asthenia (81%), while neutropenia was the most frequent grade 3 or higher AE (38%). Complete pathological response (ypT0, ypN0) was achieved in 50% of patients (n = 21), and down-staging was observed in 57.1% (n = 24). Only one patient presented radiological progressive disease during neoadjuvant treatment (2.4%), and after a mean follow-up time of 31.5 months, 33.3% of patients experienced disease recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with 4 cycles of dd-MVAC is an effective regimen with high rates of pathological complete responses and down-staging along with an acceptable toxicity profile. DD-MVAC should be considered as an alternative to cisplatin and gemcitabine in patients with good clinical performance status.

The Impact of an Enrolment in Clinical Trial on Tolerance and Pathological Response for Patients Treated by Neoadjuvant MVAC Against an Invasive Bladder Cancer. A Retrospective Comparative Study

INTRODUCTION

MVAC (Methotrexate, Vinblastine, Adriamycin, and Cisplatin) neoadjuvant chemotherapy a standard treatment for invasive bladder cancer is associated with mainly haematological toxicities. Randomized clinical trials remain a gold standard for treatment outcomes and efficacy assessment. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are selected and tend to benefit from a stricter follow-up unlike everyday clinical practice patients. Conversely, real-life observational studies better define the effectiveness of treatments in clinical routine practice. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of clinical trial monitoring on MVAC-related toxicities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Patients with an infiltrative localized bladder cancer treated by MVAC neoadjuvant chemotherapy between 2013 and 2019 were enrolled, and divided into 2 groups: patients included in a clinical trial namely "VESPER study" during their treatment and patients treated in clinical routine practice.

RESULTS

Out of 59 patients were enrolled in this retrospective study, 13 patients were included in a clinical trial. Clinical characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. Comorbidities were more frequent in the nonclinical trial group (NCTG). Completed 6 cures treatment proportion was higher in the clinical trial group (CTG) (69.2% vs. 50%). Yet, in this group, patients had more doses reduction (38.5% vs. 19.6%). The proportion of complete pathologic response was higher in patients enrolled in clinical trial (53.8% vs. 39.1%). Statistically, the expected stricter monitoring due to clinical trial enrolment had no impact on the complete pathologic response and clinically relevant toxicities.

DISCUSSION

When compared to conventional clinical practice, clinical trial enrolment induced no significant difference on the pathologic complete response or toxicity rate. Further large prospective studies are needed to confirm these data.

The Impact of Bleomycin Deficit on Survival in Hodgkin's Lymphoma Patients: A Retrospective Study

PURPOSE

Hodgkin's lymphoma is currently treated with a chemotherapy protocol consisting of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine. Due to Brazil facing a bleomycin shortage in 2017, and this drug's high toxicity, this retrospective study evaluates the effect that the absence of bleomycin had on treatment response and overall survival of Hodgkin's lymphoma patients.

METHODS

The medical records of 126 HL patients treated between 2007 and 2021 were reviewed and their data collected, followed by grouping into ABVD and AVD groups according to bleomycin use. Data concerning the patient's characteristics, cancer type, and treatment plan were analyzed with proportion tests, Kaplan-Meier curves. univariate Cox regression, and χ2 tests.

RESULTS

No discernible differences were found in this study between the overall survival and recurrence rate of patients treated with bleomycin compared to those without. Additionally, there was an increased risk of death in each subsequent cycle of chemotherapy of the complete ABVD protocol, demonstrating a risk of toxicity. Among the variables analyzed, hypertension and the presence of B symptoms were also associated with an increased risk of death, while the use of radiotherapy significantly improved survival.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study suggest that bleomycin did not impact the outcome of Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment. Moreover, the increased risk of death associated with its toxicity during each cycle of treatment raises concerns about its role as an essential component of the gold standard for Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment. Therefore, further research and consideration are needed to reassess the use of bleomycin in Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment protocols.

Long-Term Follow-Up of the Response-Adjusted Therapy for Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma Trial

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported.We analyzed long-term results of the response-adapted trial for adult patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma. The aim was to confirm noninferiority of treatment de-escalation by omission of bleomycin from doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) for interim fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (iPET)-negative patients and assess efficacy and long-term safety for iPET-positive patients who underwent treatment intensification with escalated bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisolone (BEACOPP/BEACOPP14). The median follow-up is 7.3 years. For all patients, the 7-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) are 78.2% (95% CI, 75.6 to 80.5) and 91.6% (95% CI, 89.7 to 93.2), respectively. The 1.3% difference in 3-year PFS (95% CI, -3.0 to 4.7) between ABVD and doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) now falls within the predefined noninferiority margin. Among 172 patients with positive iPET, the 7-year PFS was 65.9% (95% CI, 58.1 to 72.6) and the 7-year OS was 83.2% (95% CI, 76.2 to 88.3). The cumulative incidence of second malignancies at 7 years was 5.5% (95% CI, 4.0 to 7.5) for those receiving ABVD/AVD and 2.5% (95% CI, 0.8 to 7.7) for those escalated to BEACOPP. With extended follow-up, these results confirm noninferiority of treatment de-escalation after a negative iPET. Escalation with BEACOPP for iPET-positive patients is effective and safe, with no increase in second malignancies.

Prognostic Value of Baseline Tumor Burden and Tumor Dissemination Extracted From 18 F-FDG PET/CT in a Cohort of Adult Patients With Early or Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma

PURPOSE

We aimed to assess the prognostic value of baseline tumor burden and dissemination parameters extracted from 18 F-FDG PET/CT in patients with early or advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treated with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) or escalated BEACOPP (increased bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients aged ≥18 years with classical Hodgkin lymphoma were retrospectively included. Progression-free survival (PFS) analysis of dichotomized clinicobiological and PET/CT parameters (SUV max , TMTV, TLG, D max , and D bulk ) was performed. Optimal cutoff values for quantitative metrics were defined as the values maximizing the Youden index from receiver operating characteristic analysis. PFS rates were estimated with Kaplan-Meier curves, and the log-rank test was used to assess statistical significance. Hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

With a median age of 32 years, 166 patients were enrolled. A total of 111 patients had ABVD or ABVD-like treatment with or without radiotherapy and 55 patients with escalated BEACOPP treatment. The median follow-up was 55 months. Only International Prognostic Score (IPS >1), TMTV >107 cm 3 , and TLG >1628 were found to be significant prognostic factors for PFS on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis revealed that IPS and TLG were independently prognostic and, combined, identified 4 risk groups ( P < 0.001): low (low TLG and low IPS; 4-year PFS, 95%), intermediate-low (high IPS and low TLG; 4-year PFS, 79%), intermediate-high (low IPS and high TLG; 4-year PFS, 78%), and high (high TLG and high IPS; 4-year PFS, 71%).

CONCLUSIONS

Combining baseline TLG with IPS could improve PFS prediction.

Follow-up of the GHSG HD16 trial of PET-guided treatment in early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma

The primary analysis of the GHSG HD16 trial indicated a significant loss of tumor control with PET-guided omission of radiotherapy (RT) in patients with early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). This analysis reports long-term outcomes. Overall, 1150 patients aged 18-75 years with newly diagnosed early-stage favorable HL were randomized between standard combined-modality treatment (CMT) (2x ABVD followed by PET/CT [PET-2] and 20 Gy involved-field RT) and PET-2-guided treatment omitting RT in case of PET-2 negativity (Deauville score [DS] < 3). The study aimed at excluding inferiority of PET-2-guided treatment and assessing the prognostic impact of PET-2 in patients receiving CMT. At a median follow-up of 64 months, PET-2-negative patients had a 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 94.2% after CMT (n = 328) and 86.7% after ABVD alone (n = 300; HR = 2.05 [1.20-3.51]; p = 0.0072). 5-year OS was 98.3% and 98.8%, respectively (p = 0.14); 4/12 documented deaths were caused by second primary malignancies and only one by HL. Among patients assigned to CMT, 5-year PFS was better in PET-2-negative (n = 353; 94.0%) than in PET-2-positive patients (n = 340; 90.3%; p = 0.012). The difference was more pronounced when using DS4 as cut-off (DS 1-3: n = 571; 94.0% vs. DS ≥ 4: n = 122; 83.6%; p < 0.0001). Taken together, CMT should be considered standard treatment for early-stage favorable HL irrespective of the PET-2-result.

Phase II study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with four cycles of dose-dense MVAC followed by radical cystectomy in Korean patients with muscle-invasive or locally advanced urothelial carcinoma of bladder

PURPOSE

While previous retrospective or phase II studies in Western populations showed that dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (ddMVAC) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) was beneficial, no studies have been reported in Asian populations. This prospective phase II study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of ddMVAC in Korean patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) or locally advanced urothelial cancer (UC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients with MIBC (cT2-4aN0M0) or locally advanced UC (cTanyN1-3M0) eligible for radical cystectomy (RC) were enrolled prospectively. The participants were treated with four cycles of ddMVAC with pegfilgrastim every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was pathologic response rate (≤ypT1N0). Secondary endpoints were pathologic complete response (pCR, ypT0N0), relapse-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and safety.

RESULTS

Among 24 patients enrolled between December 2019 and August 2021, 23 were evaluable (52%, cT2-4aN0; 48%, cTanyN1-3). Eighteen patients (78%) completed four cycles of ddMVAC, while remaining five patients experienced early discontinuation. Dose modification (91%) and dose delay (70%) occurred, and the dose intensity of ddMVAC was 79%. Nineteen patients underwent RC and four patients declined. Of 19 patients who underwent RC, eight patients (42%) achieved ≤ypT1N0. With a median follow-up of 22.8 months, the median RFS was 13.5 months (95% CI, not yet evaluable) and the median OS was 28.9 months (95% confidence interval, 19.9-37.9).

CONCLUSION

Our study showed substantial efficacy and safety of ddMVAC, even in patients with locally advanced UC. The ddMVAC still should be a promising option as NAC in Asian patients with UC.

Cost-effectiveness of brentuximab vedotin in Hodgkin lymphoma: a systematic review

PURPOSE

This study aimed to systematically review and critically appraise cost-effectiveness studies on Brentuximab vedotin (BV) in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

METHODS

The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science core collection, and Embase databases were searched until July 3, 2022. We included published full economic evaluation studies on BV for treating patients with HL. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) checklist. Meanwhile, we used qualitative synthesis to analyze the findings. We converted the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) to the value of the US dollar in 2022.

RESULTS

Eight economic evaluations met the study's inclusion criteria. The results of three studies that compared BV plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (BV + AVD) front-line therapy with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) showed that BV is unlikely to be cost-effective as a front-line treatment in patients advanced stage (III or IV) HL. Four studies investigated the cost-effectiveness of BV in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) HL after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). BV was not cost-effective in the reviewed studies at accepted thresholds. In addition, the adjusted ICERs ranged from $65,382 to $374,896 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The key drivers of cost-effectiveness were medication costs, hazard ratio for BV, and utilities.

CONCLUSION

Available economic evaluations show that using BV as front-line treatment or consolidation therapy is not cost-effective based on specific ICER thresholds for patients with HL or R/R HL. To decide on this orphan drug, we should consider other factors such as existence of alternative treatment options, clinical benefits, and disease burden.

[Brentuximab Vedotin, Doxorubicin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine(A+AVD)Therapy for Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma- A Single-Institution Experience]

The JSH Practical Guidelines for Hematological Malignancies, 2018 expanded edition, newly adopted brentuximab vedotin, doxorubicin, vinblastine, dacarbazine(A+AVD)protocol as a standard treatment for advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma(CHL). Therefore, this retrospective analysis compared 15 patients who received A+AVD therapy with 21 patients who received doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine(ABVD)therapy. All patients were newly diagnosed with CHL and received induction therapy between April 2015 and June 2022 in our hospital. All except 1 patient of the A+AVD group had advanced-stage CHL. The median age was 63(23-85)years. The estimated 2-year overall survival of the A+AVD group was better than that of the ABVD group which included 6 patients with clinical stage Ⅲ or higher CHL (100% vs 66.7%, p=0.047). In contrast, there was no significant difference in the complete response rate(53.8% vs 100%, p=0.109)between the 2 groups. The overall response rate after first-line treatment(69.2% vs 100%, p=0.255), and the estimated 2-year progression-free survival(70.1% vs 66.7%, p=0.321)between the A+AVD and the ABVD groups were similar.

Hodgkin lymphoma and female fertility: a multicenter study in women treated with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine

Preservation of fertility has become a growing concern in young females with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). However, the rate of pregnancy after the current most frequently prescribed ABVD (doxorubicin [Adriamycin], bleomycin, vinblastine, and darcarbazine) chemotherapy for HL has rarely been studied. In this study, we aim to determine the impact of ABVD on the fertility of women treated for HL. We conducted a noninterventional, multicenter study of female patients of childbearing age who were treated for HL. Two healthy apparied women nonexposed to chemotherapy (our controls) were assigned for each patient. Fertility was assessed by the number of pregnancies and births after HL treatment. Sixty-seven patients were included. The median age at diagnosis was 24.4 years (range, 16-43). HL was a localized disease for 68.7%. Of all the patients, 53.7% started at least 1 pregnancy after treatment vs 54.5% of the controls (P = .92). Of all the patients who desired children, 81% had at least 1 pregnancy. Patients treated with ABVD did not have a longer median time to pregnancy (4.8 years in the group of patients and 6.8 years for controls). Across patients, there were 58 pregnancies and 48 births (ratio, 1:2) and 136 pregnancies and 104 births (ratio, 1:3) for the control cohort. No increase in obstetric or neonatal complications has been reported in HL in our study. The number of pregnancies, births, and the time to start a pregnancy in young women treated with ABVD for HL is not different from that of controls. Therefore, females with HL treated with ABVD should be reassured regarding fertility.

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Accelerated Methotrexate, Vinblastine, Doxorubicin, and Cisplatin in Patients with Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer: A Retrospective Age-stratified Analysis on Safety and Efficacy

BACKGROUND

The standard of care (SOC) for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) includes cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting followed by radical cystectomy. Older patients often do not receive SOC due to perceived toxicity concerns despite guideline-directed recommendations.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, adriamycin, and cisplatin (aMVAC) in MIBC patients as a function of age.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A retrospective analysis was conducted in 186 MIBC patients treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2018. Adults with histologically proven muscle-invasive urothelial cancer were eligible. The exclusion criteria included nonurothelial histology, lack of muscularis propria invasion, and primary upper tract or metastatic disease.

INTERVENTION

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with aMVAC.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Patients were stratified by age (<65, 65-74, and >75 yr old). Renal function was assessed at baseline and at time points after treatment. Clinicopathologic variables were compared between age groups to determine efficacy.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

There were no statistically significant differences in dose reductions, treatment interruptions, time to surgery, or adverse events when patients were stratified by age in univariate and multivariate analyses. Full safety data were not available due to the retrospective nature of the study. Baseline renal function was significantly worse among older patients, and the percent decline in creatinine clearance was greater with older age. We found comparable efficacy of aMVAC regardless of age.

CONCLUSIONS

Accelerated MVAC was safe and demonstrated efficacy in MIBC irrespective of age in this single-center, retrospective study. Careful selection based on clinical variables, and not age, should identify patients able to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PATIENT SUMMARY

We examined the feasibility of the standard cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimen given prior to surgery in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Elderly patients experienced a greater decline in kidney function with treatment but not more complications than younger patients and tolerated therapy with minimal dose changes, resulting in benefit regardless of age.

A phase II study of a doublet metronomic chemotherapy regimen consisting of oral vinorelbine and capecitabine in Chinese women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND

This single-arm prospective phase II trial was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of the dual oral metronomic vinorelbine and capecitabine (mNC) regimen in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in China.

METHODS

The mNC regimen was administered to the enrolled cases, including oral vinorelbine (VNR) 40 mg three times weekly (on days 1, 3 and 5 every week) and capecitabine (CAP) 500 mg three times a day, until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), clinical benefit rate (CBR) and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). Stratified factors included treatment lines and hormone receptor (HR) status.

RESULTS

Between June 2018 and March 2023, 29 patients were enrolled into the study. The median follow-up time was 25.4 months (range, 2.0-53.8). In the entire group, the 1-year PFS rate was 54.1%. ORR, DCR and CBR were 31.0%, 96.6% and 62.1%, respectively. The mPFS was 12.5 months (range, 1.1-28.1). Subgroup analysis revealed that ORRs were 29.4% and 33.3% in first- and ≥second-line chemotherapy, respectively. ORRs were 29.2% (7/24) and 40.0% (2/5) for HR-positive MBC and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC), respectively. Grade 3/4 TRAEs were neutropenia (10.3%) and nausea/vomiting (6.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

The dual oral mNC regimen showed very good safety features and improved compliance without loss of efficacy in both first- and second-line treatments. The regimen also reached an excellent ORR in the mTNBC subgroup.

On the challenges of predicting treatment response in Hodgkin's Lymphoma using transcriptomic data

BACKGROUND

Despite the advancements in multiagent chemotherapy in the past years, up to 10% of Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) cases are refractory to treatment and, after remission, patients experience an elevated risk of death from all causes. These complications are dependent on the treatment and therefore an increase in the prognostic accuracy of HL can help improve these outcomes and control treatment-related toxicity. Due to the low incidence of this cancer, there is a lack of works comprehensively assessing the predictability of treatment response, especially by resorting to machine learning (ML) advances and high-throughput technologies.

METHODS

We present a methodology for predicting treatment response after two courses of Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine and Dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy, through the analysis of gene expression profiles using state-of-the-art ML algorithms. We work with expression levels of tumor samples of Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients, obtained through the NanoString's nCounter platform. The presented approach combines dimensionality reduction procedures and hyperparameter optimization of various elected classifiers to retrieve reference predictability levels of refractory response to ABVD treatment using the regulatory profile of diagnostic tumor samples. In addition, we propose a data transformation procedure to map the original data space into a more discriminative one using biclustering, where features correspond to discriminative putative regulatory modules.

RESULTS

Through an ensemble of feature selection procedures, we identify a set of 14 genes highly representative of the result of an fuorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) after two courses of ABVD chemotherapy. The proposed methodology further presents an increased performance against reference levels, with the proposed space transformation yielding improvements in the majority of the tested predictive models (e.g. Decision Trees show an improvement of 20pp in both precision and recall).

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, the results reveal improvements for predicting treatment response in HL disease by resorting to sophisticated statistical and ML principles. This work further consolidates the current hypothesis on the structural difficulty of this prognostic task, showing that there is still a considerable gap to be bridged for these technologies to reach the necessary maturity for clinical practice.

[Frontline therapy for classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients]

FRONTLINE THERAPY FOR CLASSICAL HODGKIN LYMPHOMA PATIENTS. Upfront first-line chemotherapy is indicated for all features of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, followed by involved node radiotherapy in early stages; the ABVD protocol (doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) is the international standard of care. The 7-agent BEACOPP protocol (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine (Oncovin), procarbazine, prednisone) is used in advanced stages in its «escalated» version (BEAesc). During the 2010 decade, it has been demonstrated that strategies guided by positron emission tomography (PET) allows optimizing the benefit/risk ratio of the treatment by decreasing the intensity of therapies for good responders and intensifying treatment of poor responders. Thus, early PET response evaluation is now essential to adapt the treatment intensity. Despite these major advances, several issues remain, including the management of acute and long-term side effects of first-line treatments, the better options for refractory patients, the place and optimization of radiotherapy, and the place for new therapeutic agents such as the anti-CD30 conjugate antibody (brentuximab vedotin) and PD-1 inhibitors in the first-line treatment setting.

[Our experience with the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma patients]

Overall and disease-free survival of Hodgkin lymphoma patients has improved significantly since the 2000s. This is due to the use of ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) polychemotherapy and modern radiotherapy. In recent years, further diagnostic and therapeutic changes have been made, which further improve patients' survival. The most significant role in this is the improvement of diagnostics, such as the 18FDG-PET/CT, which is now routinely used repeatedly during treatment, and the response-adapted treatment(s) based on it. The main role of ABVD treatment in first-line treatment is still clear, but the combination of anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody (brentuximab vedotin) and AVD (adriamycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) is already available as a targeted treatment for patients at higher risk. The role of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of high-risk, relapsing/refractory patients is still clear, but the new, targeted innovative drugs (brentuximab vedotin, pembrolizumab) can already be used in the previous salvage treatments. New therapeutic options have new side effects, which must be taken into account during treatment (and after it). In our summary, we present these new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, based on our own practice and experience. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(11): 403-410.

Efficacy of cisplatin combined with vinorelbine as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer

The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of a cisplatin and vinorelbine combination as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated with cisplatin (60 mg/m2 on day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks between January 2004 and March 2021. Treatment responses, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were assessed; laboratory data were reviewed to determine toxicity. Thirty-two patients with advanced ovarian cancer were treated with a combination of vinorelbine and cisplatin. The objective response rate (ORR) was 18.8% and the disease control rate was 75.1%. The median PFS was 4.13 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4-5.8 months). The median OS was 56.9 months (95% CI, 50.5-63.7 months). The ORR (42.9% vs 9.1%; P = .035) was higher in the platinum-sensitive group than in the platinum-resistant group. The median PFS tended to be longer in the platinum-sensitive group (5.3 vs 3.8 months; P = .339) and the median OS was significantly longer in the platinum-sensitive group than in the platinum-resistant group (69.6 vs 24 months; P < .001). All patients developed hematological toxicities, with 56% experiencing grade 3 to 4 neutropenia. Two (6.2%) patients developed febrile neutropenia, but no treatment-related death occurred. This combination therapy may be effective in patients with heavily treated advanced ovarian cancer, particularly in platinum-sensitive patients.

CHEOPS trial: a GINECO group randomized phase II assessing addition of a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor to oral vinorelbine in pre-treated metastatic breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND

The objective of the CHEOPS trial was to assess the benefit of adding aromatase inhibitor (AI) to metronomic chemotherapy, oral vinorelbine, 50 mg, three times a week for pre-treated, HR + /HER2- metastatic breast cancer patients.

METHODS

In this multicentric phase II study, patients had to have progressed on AI and one or two lines of chemotherapy. They were randomized between oral vinorelbine (Arm A) and oral vinorelbine with non-steroidal AI (Arm B).

RESULTS

121 patients were included, 61 patients in Arm A and 60 patients in Arm B. The median age was 68 years. 109 patients had visceral metastases. They all had previously received an AI. The study had been prematurely stopped following the third death due to febrile neutropenia. Median PFS trend was found to be different with 2.3 months and 3.7 months in Arm A and Arm B, respectively (HR 0.73, 95%CI 0.50-1.06, p value = 0.0929). No statistical difference was shown in OS and better tumor response. 56 serious adverse events corresponding to 25 patients (21%) were reported (respectively, 12 (20%) versus 13 (22%) for arms A and B) (NS).

CONCLUSION

The addition of AI to oral vinorelbine over oral vinorelbine alone in aromatase inhibitor-resistant metastatic breast cancer was associated with a non-significant improvement of PFS. Several unexpected serious adverse events were reported. Metronomic oral vinorelbine schedule, at 50 mg three times a week, requires close biological monitoring. The question of hormonal treatment and chemotherapy combination remains open.

Overall Survival with Brentuximab Vedotin in Stage III or IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma

BACKGROUND

Five-year follow-up in a trial involving patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classic Hodgkin's lymphoma showed long-term progression-free survival benefits with first-line therapy with brentuximab vedotin, a CD30-directed antibody-drug conjugate, plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD), as compared with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD). A planned interim analysis indicated a potential benefit with regard to overall survival; data from a median of 6 years of follow-up are now available.

METHODS

We randomly assigned patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive up to six cycles of A+AVD or ABVD. The primary end point, modified progression-free survival, has been reported previously. The key secondary end point was overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was also assessed.

RESULTS

A total of 664 patients were assigned to receive A+AVD and 670 to receive ABVD. At a median follow-up of 73.0 months, 39 patients in the A+AVD group and 64 in the ABVD group had died (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40 to 0.88; P = 0.009). The 6-year overall survival estimates were 93.9% (95% CI, 91.6 to 95.5) in the A+AVD group and 89.4% (95% CI, 86.6 to 91.7) in the ABVD group. Progression-free survival was longer with A+AVD than with ABVD (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.86). Fewer patients in the A+AVD group than in the ABVD group received subsequent therapy, including transplantation, and fewer second cancers were reported with A+AVD (in 23 vs. 32 patients). Primary prophylaxis with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was recommended after an increased incidence of febrile neutropenia was observed with A+AVD. More patients had peripheral neuropathy with A+AVD than with ABVD, but most patients in the two groups had resolution or amelioration of the event by the last follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who received A+AVD for the treatment of stage III or IV Hodgkin's lymphoma had a survival advantage over those who received ABVD. (Funded by Takeda Development Center Americas and Seagen; ECHELON-1 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01712490; EudraCT number, 2011-005450-60.).

Imatinib Mesylate for the Treatment of Canine Mast Cell Tumors: Assessment of the Response and Adverse Events in Comparison with the Conventional Therapy with Vinblastine and Prednisone

Mast cell tumors (MCTs) are common neoplasms in dogs, and treatments for these diseases include surgery, polychemotherapy and targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. This study aimed to evaluate the response and the adverse events of treatment with imatinib mesylate (IM) compared to conventional therapy using vinblastine and prednisolone (VP) in canine cutaneous MCTs. Twenty-four dogs were included in the study; 13 animals were treated with IM and 11 with VP. Tumor tissue samples were submitted for histological diagnosis, grading and KIT immunostaining. The response to treatment was assessed by tomographic measurements according to VCOG criteria. Adverse events were classified according to VCOG-CTCAE criteria. The IM and VP groups had dogs with similar breeds, gender, ages, MCT localization, WHO stages and lymph node metastasis profiles. Most MCTs were grade 2/low and had KIT- patterns 2 and 3. The objective response rate (ORR) was significantly higher (30.79%) in the IM group then in VP group (9.09%). Adverse events (AE) in IM group were all grade 1, significantly different from VP. In conclusion, IM presented better ORR and less severe adverse events when compared to VP, representing a suitable option for the treatment of low-grade canine MCTs.

Overlap Stevens Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis developed due to the use of toxic-dose vinblastine in case of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis(Letterer-Siwe)

Except for side effects expected standart dose use of the chemotherapeutics agents, toxic effects (poisoning) may occur if high doses of are mistakenly used in the treatment of haemato-oncological diseases and these toxic doses are usually fatal. Here, we report a case of Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) / Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) following administration of toxic dose of vinblastine by mistake. A 20-month-old male patient with a diagnosis of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (Letterer-Siwe) at the pediatric oncology department was admitted to intensive care unit, after having received treatment protocol consisting of vinblastine, etoposide and prednisolone, with fever, altered consciousness and decompensated shock findings. Skin biopsy which performed from bullous lesions in the perianal, neck and axillary regions was resulted compatible with SJS / TEN in the patient with multiple organ failure, at 48 h of admission. It was later determined that the patient has been mistakenly given 10 times the normal dose of vinblastine he needed (60 mg/m²), which was 6 mg/m². Plasma exchange was performed 3 times for vinblastine toxicity, intravenous immunoglobulin was administered for SJS / TEN therapy and phenobarbital was initiated to increase drug metabolism. The patient whose clinical picture fully improved, was transferred to the oncology department on the 30th day of intensive care hospitalization. Vinblastine toxicity is a life-threatening condition that can cause multiple organ failure, SJS / TEN. Plasma exchange is an effective treatment method for the removal of vinblastine from the body and in these cases of toxicity.

Pembrolizumab followed by AVD in untreated early unfavorable and advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Pembrolizumab, a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting programmed death-1 protein, has demonstrated efficacy in relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). To assess the complete metabolic response (CMR) rate and safety of pembrolizumab monotherapy in newly diagnosed cHL, we conducted a multicenter, single-arm, phase 2 investigator-initiated trial of sequential pembrolizumab and doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) chemotherapy. Patients ≥18 years of age with untreated, early, unfavorable, or advanced-stage disease were eligible for treatment. Thirty patients (early unfavorable stage, n = 12; advanced stage, n = 18) were treated with 3 cycles of pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD for 4 to 6 cycles, depending on stage and bulk. Twelve had either large mediastinal masses or bulky disease (>10 cm). After pembrolizumab monotherapy, 11 patients (37%) demonstrated CMRs, and an additional 7 of 28 (25%) patients with quantifiable positron emission tomography computed tomography scans had >90% reduction in metabolic tumor volume. All patients achieved CMR after 2 cycles of AVD and maintained their responses at the end of treatment. With a median follow-up of 22.5 months (range, 14.2-30.6) there were no changes in therapy, progressions, or deaths. No patients received consolidation radiotherapy, including those with bulky disease. Therapy was well tolerated. The most common immune-related adverse events were grade 1 rash (n = 6) and grade 2 infusion reactions (n = 4). One patient had reversible grade 4 transaminitis and a second had reversible Bell's palsy. Brief pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD was both highly effective and safe in patients with newly diagnosed cHL, including those with bulky disease. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03226249.

Meiotic susceptibility for induction of sperm with chromosomal aberrations in patients receiving combination chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma

Improvements in survival rates with gonad-sparing protocols for childhood and adolescence cancer have increased the optimism of survivors to become parents after treatment. Findings in rodents indicate that chromosomal aberrations can be induced in male germ cells by genotoxic exposures and transmitted to offspring and future generations with effects on development, fertility and health. Thus, there is a need for effective technologies to identify human sperm carrying chromosomal aberrations to assess the germ-line risks, especially for cancer survivors who have received genotoxic therapies. The time-dependent changes in the burden of sperm carrying structural chromosomal aberrations were assessed for the first time in a cancer setting, using the AM8 sperm FISH protocol which simultaneously detects abnormalities in chromosomal structure and number in sperm. Nine Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients provided 20 semen samples before, during, and after NOVP therapy (Novantrone, Oncovin, Velban and Prednisone) and radiation therapy that produced scattered gonadal doses from <0.05 to 0.6 Gy. Late meiosis was found to be the most sensitive to NOVP treatment for the production of sperm with chromosomal abnormalities, both in structure and number. Earlier stages of spermatogenesis were less sensitive and there was no evidence that therapy-exposed stem cells resulted in increased frequencies of sperm with abnormalities in chromosomal structure or number. This indicates that NOVP therapy may increase the risks for paternal transmission of chromosomal structural aberrations for sperm produced 32 to 45 days after a treatment with these drugs and implies that there are no excess risks for pregnancies conceived more than 6 months after this therapy. This clinical evaluation of the AM8 sperm FISH protocol indicates that it is a promising tool for assessing an individual's burden of sperm carrying chromosomal structural aberrations as well as aneuploidies after cancer therapy, with broad applications in other clinical and environmental situations that may pose aneugenic or clastogenic risks to human spermatogenesis.

Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes in Children, Adolescents, and Young-adults with Hodgkin's Lymphoma: a KPHOG Lymphoma Working-party, Multicenter, Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) constitutes 10%-20% of all malignant lymphomas and has a high cure rate (5-year survival, around 90%). Recently, interest has increased concerning preventing secondary complications (secondary cancer, endocrine disorders) in long-term survivors. We aimed to study the epidemiologic features and therapeutic outcomes of HL in children, adolescents, and young adults in Korea.

METHODS

We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of 224 patients aged < 25 years diagnosed with HL at 22 participating institutes in Korea from January 2007 to August 2016.

RESULTS

A higher percentage of males was diagnosed at a younger age. Nodular sclerosis histopathological HL subtype was most common, followed by mixed cellularity subtype. Eighty-one (36.2%), 101 (45.1%), and 42 (18.8%) patients were classified into low, intermediate, and high-risk groups, respectively. Doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine was the most common protocol (n = 102, 45.5%). Event-free survival rate was 86.0% ± 2.4%, while five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 96.1% ± 1.4%: 98.7% ± 1.3%, 97.7% ± 1.6%, and 86.5% ± 5.6% in the low, intermediate, and high-risk groups, respectively (P = 0.021). Five-year OS was worse in patients with B-symptoms, stage IV disease, high-risk, splenic involvement, extra-nodal lymphoma, and elevated lactate dehydrogenase level. In multivariate analysis, B-symptoms and extra-nodal involvement were prognostic factors for poor OS. Late complications of endocrine disorders and secondary malignancy were observed in 17 and 6 patients, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study on the epidemiology and treatment outcomes of HL in children, adolescents, and young adults in Korea. Future prospective studies are indicated to develop therapies that minimize treatment toxicity while maximizing cure rates in children, adolescents, and young adults with HL.

Impact of ABVD chemotherapy on ovarian reserve after fertility preservation in reproductive-aged women with Hodgkin lymphoma

RESEARCH QUESTION

How is ovarian reserve affected by chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who undergo fertility preservation (FP)?

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing medical records of 105 HL patients referred to the FP unit before starting adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy. Ovarian reserve was evaluated before chemotherapy and at the last follow-up using anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and antral follicle count (AFC) measurements. The decrease in AMH was compared with that expected from normograms. AMH was compared between patients who underwent cryopreservation of ovarian tissue and those who underwent cryopreservation of mature oocytes.

RESULTS

After ABVD, 15% of patients required hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. At a median follow-up of 33 months, the median decrease in AMH was 0.88 ng/mL, which was significantly greater than that of the general population of this age group (p < 0.001). Of the 82 women who only had ABVD, 38 underwent FP by cryopreservation of mature oocytes and 44 underwent cryopreservation of the ovarian cortex. There was no significant difference in AMH or AFC at the last follow-up between FP techniques.

CONCLUSION

Although ABVD is considered to be of low gonadotoxic risk, the decrease in AMH was greater than expected for patients' age, and 15% of patients needed more aggressive therapy during follow-up. Type of FP was not associated with decline in ovarian reserve. Reproductive-aged women with HL should have the opportunity for FP counseling before starting treatment.

Can We Predict Bleomycin Toxicity with PET-CT?

AIM

Bleomycin is an antitumor antibiotic used successfully to treat a variety of malignancies, predominantly germ cell tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). The major limitation of bleomycin therapy is the potential for life-threatening interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Early identification of asymptomatic patients who may develop toxicity is important. We aimed to evaluate fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET/CT) findings to predict bleomycin toxicity (BT) early after chemotherapy with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy before clinical symptoms and radiological changes occur.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HL patients who were treated with ABVD were evaluated. SUVmax values of lung parenchyma were analyzed in FDG-PET/CT at diagnosis and after 4 cycles of chemotherapy in all patients. At the end of the chemotherapy cycles, lung parenchymal SUVmax values of patients with BT and without BT were compared statistically.

RESULTS

Twenty (66.7%) male and 10 (33.3%) female patients with HL were included. Five (16.7%) HL patients developed BT. In 3 HL patients, BT was determined after 5 cycles and in 2 patients, BT was seen after 6 cycles. In all 5 of these patients with BT, FDG uptake in PET-CT was increased after 4 cycles of chemotherapy and BT was predicted before clinical and radiological findings by FDG-PET/CT. After 4 cycles of chemotherapy, lung parenchymal SUVmax of patients with BT (3.24 ± 0.76) was significantly higher than in patients without toxicity (1.84 ± 0.52) (p < 0.001). In patients with BT, a significant increase was established in lung parenchymal SUVmax after 4 cycles of chemotherapy when compared to the time of diagnosis (p = 0.043).

CONCLUSION

BT can be fatal. Early detection of BT is essential in clinical practice. FDG-PET/CT can predict BT before clinical and radiological findings occur.

Vinflunine in the treatment of relapsed metastatic urothelial cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of real-world series

BACKGROUND

Vinflunine (VFL) is approved in Europe as second-line treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer after failure of platinum-containing therapy. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of real-world data (RWD) to assess utilization, efficacy and safety of VFL.

METHODS

We performed a MEDLINE search for the period of 1/1/2000-31/8/2017. Full-length articles providing post-marketing RWD on VFL in patients failing previous chemotherapy were eligible. Interventional clinical trials were excluded.

RESULTS

Ten studies with 797 patients were identified. According to pooled REs analysis, overall response rate was 19%, most frequent, all-grade toxicities were fatigue (41%), constipation (39%), nausea/vomiting (25%), and most prevalent Grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia (13%), anaemia (9%), fatigue (8%). Median OS was comparable to results reported in recent randomized studies.

CONCLUSION

Our findings confirm the efficacy and safety of VFL in an unselected population and support the use of VFL in the changing treatment paradigm of relapsed mUC.

Interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma of the spleen with hepatic failure after chemotherapy: A case report

RATIONALE

Interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS) is an extremely rare disease originating from dendritic cells (DCs). There are few cases report interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma of spleen along with their pathological characteristics and treatment.

PATIENT CONCERNS

Here we report a case of IDCS in 53-year-old female who presented spleen enlargement and thrombocytopenia.

DIAGNOSES

The patient underwent surgical resection of spleen, and the pathology confirmed IDCS.

INTERVENTIONS

She received surgical resection of spleen and one cycle of chemotherapy (ABVD with ifosfamide and oxaliplatin) after surgery.

OUTCOMES

She died of severe hepatic failure caused by chemotherapy.

DISCUSSION

IDCS is a rare disease with insufficient treatment guidelines. We adopted chemotherapy of ABVD with ifosfamide and oxaliplatin which showed no improvement but led to life-threatening liver damage.

Safety and Activity of Sorafenib in Addition to Vinflunine in Post-Platinum Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma (Vinsor): Phase I Trial

Lessons Learned.

First trial to report safety and activity of the microtubule inhibitor vinflunine plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib in post‐platinum metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) patients.

A recommended phase II dose was identified for the treatment combination of vinflunine plus sorafenib, with main adverse events including fatigue, febrile neutropenia, neutropenia, hypertension, and hyponatremia.

An overall response rate of 41% to second‐line vinflunine plus sorafenib treatment in patients with platinum‐resistant mUC was confirmed.

Background.

Platinum‐progressive metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) is a clinical challenge. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib has demonstrated varied activity in mUC. This trial was designed to examine safety and activity of vinflunine plus sorafenib in mUC.

Methods.

In addition to standard dose of vinflunine (320 or 280 mg/m²), patients received sorafenib (400, 600, or 800 mg/day), in a 3 + 3 dose‐escalation phase I design.

Results.

Twenty‐two patients (median age 62.5 years) were included. Five patients received vinflunine 320 mg/m² and 17 received 280 mg/m². The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of sorafenib with vinflunine 280 mg/m² was 600 mg, and with vinflunine 320 mg/m² it was not determined, owing to toxicity. Adverse events (AEs) grades 3 + 4 consisted of neutropenia (6 patients), febrile neutropenia (5), and hyponatremia (5). The overall response rate (ORR) in the efficacy‐evaluable patients was 41% (7 of 17), all partial responses evaluated by RECIST version 1.1. Median overall survival (OS) was 7.0 months (1.8–41.7).

Conclusion.

The defined recommended phase II dose (RPTD) was vinflunine 280 mg/m² plus sorafenib 400 mg. Sorafenib was too toxic in combination with vinflunine 320 mg/m². The ORR of 41% to this second‐line combination treatment of mUC is noteworthy and supports further trials.

Weekly Vinorelbine in Elderly Patients with Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Aims and background

Many lung cancers are diagnosed in patients over 65 years of age, but limited data are available on the tolerance and activity in elderly patients of chemotherapy protocols designed for adults.

Methods

We therefore activated a phase II study in patients aged 65 years or older affected by stage IIIB-IV non-small-cell lung cancer in order to assess the tolerance and activity of vinorelbine administered weekly at a dose of 25 mg/m2.

Results

Since June 1992, 25 patients (20 males, 5 females; performance status ECOG, 0-2) have been included in the study and are evaluable for response and side effects. Two-hundred and twenty-eight cycles of therapy have been delivered (median/patient, 9 cycles). Four partial remissions (16%; 95% confidence interval 5–36%), 9 disease stabilizations, and 12 progressions have been observed. Median time to disease progression was 3 months, and median survival was 5 months (range, 2–25+). Mild or moderate side effects included leukopenia (6 cases), neutropenia (4 cases), anemia (4 cases), nausea (4 cases), infection (3 cases) and thoracic pain (2 cases). Grade III/IV toxicity consisted mainly of leukopenia and neutropenia observed respectively in 5 and in 7 patients. No significant difference in terms of tolerability has been observed for patients aged 65 to 70 with respect to patients aged 70 years or older.

Conclusions

The administration of vinorelbine in elderly patients does not seem to differ significantly in terms of response and tolerability from that recorded for adults. Selected elderly patients with good performance status and adequate organ function can be safely treated with systemic chemotherapy.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Fatal Pulmonary Toxicity to Combination Chemotherapy Containing Bleomycin: A Case Report

Bleomycin is a commonly used anticancer agent; in particular, it is an important component of multidrug regimens for germ cell tumors. The limiting toxicity of bleomycin is represented by pulmonary interstitial fibrosis; mucocutaneous side effects are common, but usually harmless. We describe a case of a young girl who developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome following the administration of bleomycin in a three-drug regimen containing vinblastine and cisplatin, for an ovarian immature teratoma. The severe dermatologic toxicity was kept under control, but a rapidly evolving respiratory insufficiency due to lung fibrosis developed soon thereafter and caused the patient's death.

Genomic chaos in peripheral blood lymphocytes of Hodgkin's lymphoma patients one year after ABVD chemotherapy/radiotherapy

Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is a lymphoid malignancy representing 5% of all cancers in children, 16% in adolescents, and 30-40% of all malignant lymphomas and has a survival rate of ~95% at 10 years. One of the most common treatment schemes uses a cocktail of genotoxic agents including adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) with or without radiotherapy. We investigated the occurrence of chromosomal damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes from five patients diagnosed with HL who provided samples before (BT), during chemotherapy (DT) and ~1 year after ABVD chemotherapy/radiotherapy (AT). Five healthy subjects served as controls. Chromosomal abnormalities were evaluated by multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization. The average frequencies of structural chromosomal aberrations in HL samples were 0.11, 0.22, and 0.96 per cell in BT, DT, and AT samples, respectively. These frequencies were significantly different (P < 0.0001) with respect to control subjects (0.02 per cell). Interestingly, the highest frequency of structural damage, including genomic chaos and nonclonal abnormalities, was observed in the AT samples indicating that new aberrations were continuously produced. Rejoined structural chromosomal aberrations were the most common type of aberrations, although aneuploidies were also significantly increased. Finally, we found several chromosomal abnormalities linked to cancer secondary to treatment in all five HL patients. Our results show that ABVD chemotherapy plus radiotherapy is inducing genomic chaos in vivo; moreover, the persistence of genomic instability in the hematopoietic stem cells from HL patients may play a role in the occurrence of secondary cancer that is observed in 5-20% of HL patients. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 59:755-768, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acute liver failure secondary to ABVD use

Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is a type of cancer originating in the lymph nodes. The preferred therapy for advanced HL is a combination of chemotherapies including doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (ABVD). ABVD has been standard therapy for advanced HL. It is generally considered as safe and rarely has been reported to cause acute liver failure. We present a case of 79-year-old woman with HL, who developed acute liver failure secondary to first cycle of ABVD chemotherapy.

CNS progression during vinblastine or targeted therapies for high-risk relapsed ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma: A case series

Vinblastine and targeted therapies induce remissions in patients with relapsed or progressive anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis often is not included during re-induction in CNS-negative relapse patients. We report on five patients with progressive or early relapsed ALK-positive ALCL who developed CNS progression during re-induction with vinblastine, crizotinib, or brentuximab vedotin given for bridging to allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation. These observations suggest that CNS prophylaxis should be considered in ALCL patients suffering progression during initial therapy who receive re-induction using agents with limited CNS penetration.

Better characterization of vinflunine pharmacokinetics variability and exposure/toxicity relationship to improve its use: Analyses from 18 trials

AIMS

Vinflunine is a novel tubulin-targeted inhibitor indicated as a single agent for the treatment of bladder cancers after failure of prior platinum-based therapy. Its pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) have been independently characterized through several phase I and phase II studies. However, no global pharmacometric analysis had been conducted as yet.

METHODS

Vinflunine concentrations and safety data from 18 phase I and phase II studies were used to conduct population PK and PK/PD analysis, using Nonmem. A four-compartment model was used to describe vinflunine PK and several covariates were tested to explain interindividual variability. In terms of PK/PD relationship, a semiphysiological population PK/PD model was applied to describe time course of absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) after vinflunine administration and logistic regression models were used to test the relationship between vinflunine exposure and toxicities.

RESULTS

Vinflunine clearance is explained by creatinine clearance, body surface area and combination with PEGylated doxorubicin, leading to a decrease from 28.2 to 25.3% of the interindividual variability. When vinflunine dose is decreased, simulations of ANC time course (via a semiphysiological model) after vinflunine administration show a risk of neutropenia grade 3-4 at cycle 2 always lower than when dose is delayed. As an example, for moderate renal impaired patients, the risk is 42.1% when vinflunine is dosed at 320 mg m-2 once every 4 weeks vs. 23.3% for 280 mg m-2 once every 3 weeks.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose for the first time a global comprehensive clinical pharmacological analysis for intravenous vinflunine that may help drive dose adjustment.

Phase II Study of Divided-Dose Vinblastine in Advanced Cancer Patients

A better therapeutic index has been obtained in breast cancer patients when vinblastine is given by a 5-day continuous infusion program than by i.v. bolus; the continuous infusion pharmacokinetics has been reproduced by an iv divided bolus at 0 and 48 h, which may be more easily applied to outpatients. We performed a broad phase II study in 97 advanced cancer patients in which vinblastine was administered by i.v. divided bolus at 0 and 48 h at the starting dose of 3.5–4 mg/m2, every 3 weeks. Our aim was to confirm the results achieved by continuous infusion and to investigate the toxicity pattern of this novel administration schedule. Neurotoxicity and myelosup-pression were the main side effects: constipation and peripheral neurotoxicity respectively developed in 28% and 38% of patients and were severe in 5% and 1%. Leukopenia and thrombocytopenia respectively occurred in 70% and 40% of patients and were severe in 11% and 4%. Four partial responses, 38 no changes and 42 progression were obtained out of 84 evaluable patients. Responses were seen in tumors of breast, lung, and head and neck. Our results do not support the use of vinblastine in divided doses in advanced cancer patients.

Vinorelbine as Single Agent in Pretreated Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer

Vinorelbine is a new semisynthetic vinca alkaloid with high activity against breast cancer. In this multicenter clinical study we evaluated the activity and toxicity of vinorelbine as a single agent in 30 advanced breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracycline and/or mitoxantrone (24 with recurrent tumor, 6 with non operable cancers). Vinorelbine was given at a weekly dose of 20 mg/m2 for a minimum of 3 weeks. Treatment was continued until there was disease progression or evidence of serious toxicity. Predominant sites of metastasis were viscera (14 cases), soft tissue (11 cases) and bone (5 cases). A median number of 12 doses of vinorelbine (range 3-34) were administered to each patient. Objective responses were recorded in 11 of them and 15 had minimal responses or stable disease. Four patients showed progression of disease during vinorelbine chemotherapy. The median duration of response was 5 months (2-14). The median survival time was 7 months (2-20+): 9 months for responders and 5 months for those with stable or progressive disease. The most important and dose-limiting toxicity was represented by leukopenia. The compliance of patients was very good and the treatment was well accepted by them all including those with low performance status. In conclusion, this study provides further evidence that a weekly schedule with vinorelbine as a single agent is effective and well-tolerated also in pretreated advanced breast cancer patients.

Regional Hyperoxygenation: An Important Enhancing Factor of Anticancer Chemotherapy

Tissue hyperoxygenation is an important factor in enhancing the antitumor activity of cytotoxic agents. The authors describe their technique for regional hyperoxygenation by intrarterial infusion of hydrogen peroxide combined with anticancer agents. The method was tried in 34 patients with extensive head and neck tumors. Objective regression was obtained in 19 (55.7 %). Hyperoxygenation probably influences the cellular metabolic and enzymatic processes, thus enhancing the antineoplastic activity of cytotoxic agents. The method described is useful either as a palliative in extensive inoperable tumors, especially those previously irradiated, or as a first chemotherapeutic step in a comprehensive program of treatment in resistant, slow-growing tumors.

Pain at Tumor Site after Vinorelbine Injection: Description of an Unexpected Side Effect

Aims and Background

Vinorelbine is a new semisynthetic vinka alkaloid that has demonstrated good tolerability and interesting activity in a large spectrum of solid tumors. It was the aim of this paper to report the presence of a rarely documented side effect.

Methods

In our experience, 135 patients were treated with vinorelbine during the period 10/92 to 11/94 for a total of 1080 cycles. In 26% of the cycles, vinorelbine was administered in monochemotherapy and in 74% in polychemotherapy regimens. The dose of vinorelbine, administered in a weekly schedule, was 25 mg/m2 in 109 patients and 30 mg/m2 in 26 patients. In general, no analgesic premedication was used. Sixty-five patients had lung cancer, 45 had breast cancer, and 25 miscellaneous cancer. Only 4 patients had a previous history of neurotoxicity.

Results

Ten patients (7%) had pain in the tumor site within a few minutes of the vinorelbine injection. According to WHO grade, 5 cases had moderate and 5 severe pain. Pain was always reversible. In 5 cases ketorolac was administered after pain detection with resolution of the symptoms; in 4 cases it was necessary to deliver buprenorphine. One patient was admitted to the coronary unit because a myocardial infarction was suspected after retrosternal pain and required i.v. morphine. Seven cases refused to continue the treatment, and 3 cases had no further problem after ketorolac premedication.

Conclusions

Although rare, the presence of severe pain after vinorelbine injection may adversely affect the treatment course. Such data are helpful in the recognition and management of this reversible side effect.

Chemotherapy with Mitomycin C and Vinblastine in Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer

Aims

In February 1986 we began a study to test the activity of mitomycin C (12 mg/m2) plus vinblastine (6 mg/m2) on day 1 of a 28-day cycle (MV) as second or third-line chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer patients.

Methods

As of February 1988 the study was stopped after 26 patients had been enrolled. The median age of the patients was 54 years (range 35-78); all patients were progressive from chemotherapy; 15 (57.7 %) patients were treated as second and 11 (42.3 %) as third line; 19 (73.1 %) patients had received anthracyclines as first (13 patients) or second-line (6 patients) chemotherapy; 18 (69.2 %) patients had visceral Involvement; 7 (26.9 %) had one metastatic site, 11 (42.3 %) two sites, 6 (23.1 %) three sites and 2 (7.7 %) four sites.

Results

Overall, 86 cycles were administered, with a median number of 3 cycles per patient. Toxicity was mild; hematologic side effects required discontinuation of treatment in 3 cases. Vomiting occurred in 3 (11.5 %) patients, nausea in 5 (19.2 %). Moderate neurologic toxicity was recorded in 6 (23 %) patients. No complete and 3 partial responses were observed. The objective response rate was 11.5 % (exact 95 % confidence interval, 2.4-30.1). Responses occurred independently of disease-free interval, dominant metastatic site, response to previous chemotherapy, previous anthracycline and line of treatment; all responses were recorded in patients under 50 years of age. Kaplan-Meier estimated median time to progression and overall survival were 13 and 40 weeks, respectively.

Conclusion

The MV regimen was well tolerated but showed little activity in pretreated metastatic breast cancer.

Lonidamine versus Polychemotherapy in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. A Preliminary Analysis

No clear evidence of survival benefit has been definitely shown by chemotherapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. We evaluated in a randomized trial the activity of the new drug lonidamine (up to 1050 mg/day) versus MVP (mitomycin C, 10 mg/m2, vinblastine, 5 mg/m2, cisplatin, 100 mg/m2). The preliminary findings on 25 patients showed that lonidamine can be easily administered at these dose ranges, and main toxicity was represented by myalgia and testicular pain. Tolerance to combination chemotherapy (MVP) was superimposable to our prior experience. Responses were recorded in both arms, and no survival difference was apparent. The study is in progress.

Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion Associated with Hepatic Arterial Infusion of Vinblastine in Three Patients with Breast Cancer

We report the occurrence of the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion in 3 patients with breast carcinoma metastatic to the liver who received hepatic arterial infusion of vinblastine at lower doses than those previously associated with this effect. Leukopenia was severe in all patients, who additionally experienced hypokalemia with excessive kaliuresis. The etiology of the observed hypokalemia is unclear. We suspect that vinblastine may induce renal tubular dysfunction. These toxicities appear dose-related.

Vinblastine and Interferon-Alpha-2a Regimen in the Treatment of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Thirteen patients with histologically proven advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were treated with vinblastine (Velbe, Eli Lilly, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy) and interferon-alpha-2a (Roferon-A, Roche, Milan). Eleven out of 13 patients were evaluable. Eighteen percent of patients had partial response, 46 % stable disease (SD), and 36 % progressive disease (PD). The mean survival of responders was 228+ days, whereas the patients showing SD and PD had a mean survival of 154+ and 107+ days respectively. Toxicity, including influenza-like syndrome, fever, neurological and gastrointestinal side effects, was generally mild. However, medication with paracetamol was required in 82 % of cases. Our small study confirms that VBL and IFN-2a regimen is moderately active in RCC.

Mitomycin C and Vinblastine in Advanced Refractory Breast Cancer

A combination of mitomycin C and vinblastine was administered as salvage treatment in 44 patients with heavily pretreated refractory breast cancer. Response rate was 23% (10 of 44) including one complete response of lung metastases. The highest response rate was seen in intrathoracic localizations (45 %). Median duration of response was 6.5 months (range, 3–17). Treatment was generally well tolerated, and only 25 % of patients developed nausea and vomiting. Neurologic toxicity was represented by paresthesia (8 patients) and constipation (one patient). Mild leukopenia was observed in 30 of 172 treatment cycles, but it exceeded grade 2 in only 5 patients. Considering the good compliance of this regimen and the poor prognosis of patients with advanced refractory disease, the combination of mitomycin C plus vinblastine appears to be useful as salvage treatment for metastatic breast cancer.