Short-term outcomes of chemoradiotherapy and local excision versus total mesorectal excision in T2-T3ab,N0,M0 rectal cancer: a multicentre randomised, controlled, phase III trial (the TAU-TEM study)

BACKGROUND

The standard treatment of T2-T3ab,N0,M0 rectal cancers is total mesorectal excision (TME) due to the high recurrence rates recorded with local excision. Initial reports of the combination of pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) have shown reductions in local recurrence. The TAU-TEM study aims to demonstrate the non-inferiority of local recurrence and the improvement in morbidity achieved with CRT-TEM compared with TME. Here we describe morbidity rates and pathological outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a prospective, multicentre, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial including patients with rectal adenocarcinoma staged as T2-T3ab,N0,M0. Patients were randomised to the CRT-TEM or the TME group. Patients included, tolerance of CRT and its adverse effects, surgical complications (Clavien-Dindo and Comprehensive Complication Index classifications) and pathological results (complete response in the CRT-TEM group) were recorded in both groups. Patients attended follow-up controls for local and systemic relapse.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT01308190.

RESULTS

From July 2010 to October 2021, 173 patients from 17 Spanish hospitals were included (CRT-TEM: 86, TME: 87). Eleven were excluded after randomisation (CRT-TEM: 5, TME: 6). Modified intention-to-treat analysis thus included 81 patients in each group. There was no mortality after CRT. In the CRT-TEM group, one patient abandoned CRT, 1/81 (1.2%). The CRT-related morbidity rate was 29.6% (24/81). Post-operative morbidity was 17/82 (20.7%) in the CRT-TEM group and 41/81 (50.6%) in the TME group (P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval 42.9% to 16.7%). One patient died in each group (1.2%). Of the 81 patients in the CRT-TEM group who received the allocated treatment, 67 (82.7%) underwent organ preservation. Pathological complete response in the CRT-TEM group was 44.3% (35/79). In the TME group, pN1 were found in 17/81 (21%).

CONCLUSION

CRT-TEM treatment obtains high pathological complete response rates (44.3%) and a high CRT compliance rate (98.8%). Post-operative complications and hospitalisation rates were significantly lower than those in the TME group. We await the results of the follow-up regarding cancer outcomes and quality of life.

A real world analysis of recurrence risk factors for early colorectal cancer T1 treated with standard endoscopic resection

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM

Currently, endoscopic resection of early colorectal cancer defined as carcinoma with limited invasion of the mucosa (Tis) and submucosa (T1) is possible. However, lymph node spreading increases to 16.2% of cases when tumor invades the submucosa. We analyzed the previously identified factors for lymph node dissemination and recurrence, in our population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed retrospectively all patients with T1 tumors, treated at our center with endoscopic resection and some with additional surgery between January 2006 and January 2018. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.

RESULTS

One hundred fifty-nine patients were treated with endoscopic resection, 56.6% with additional surgery. The mean age was 68.74 years and 69. 9% were male. All patients who underwent additional surgery presented negative margins and 8.8% presented positive lymph nodes. In a mean follow-up of 23.36 months, 13 patients had relapsed. The risk of relapse did not differ between patients treated with additional surgery from those who only underwent endoscopic resection (p = 0.506). On the other hand, lymph node dissemination (p = 0.007) and a positive endoscopic margin (p = 0.01) were independent risk factors for relapse. There was a positive association between lymph node dissemination and lymphatic (p = 0.07), vascular (p = 0.007), and perineural (p = 0.001) invasion and also with degree of histological differentiation (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

In our study, lymphatic, vascular, and perineural invasion and also the degree of histological differentiation were associated with lymph node dissemination. However, the only independent risk factors for long-term recurrence were a positive margin and lymph node dissemination.

Non-inferiority multicenter prospective randomized controlled study of rectal cancer T2-T3s (superficial) N0, M0 undergoing neoadjuvant treatment and local excision (TEM) vs total mesorectal excision (TME)

PURPOSE

The standard treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma is total mesorectal excision (TME), in many cases requires a temporary or permanent stoma. TME is associated with high morbidity and genitourinary alterations. Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) allows access to tumors up to 20 cm from the anal verge, achieves minimal postoperative morbidity and mortality rates, and does not require an ostomy. The treatment of T2, N0, and M0 cancers remains controversial. Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in association with TEM reduces local recurrence and increases survival. The TAU-TEM study aims to demonstrate the non-inferiority of the oncological outcomes and the improvement in morbidity and quality of life achieved with TEM compared with TME.

METHODS

Prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled non-inferiority trial includes patients with rectal adenocarcinoma less than 10 cm from the anal verge and up to 4 cm in size, staged as T2 or T3-superficial N0-M0. Patients will be randomized to two areas: CRT plus TEM or radical surgery (TME). Postoperative morbidity and mortality will be recorded and patients will complete the quality of life questionnaires before the start of treatment, after CRT in the CRT/TEM arm, and 6 months after surgery in both arms. The estimated sample size for the study is 173 patients. Patients will attend follow-up controls for local and systemic relapse.

CONCLUSIONS

This study aims to demonstrate the preservation of the rectum after preoperative CRT and TEM in rectal cancer stages T2-3s, N0, M0 and to determine the ability of this strategy to avoid the need for radical surgery (TME).

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01308190. Número de registro del Comité de Etica e Investigación Clínica (CEIC) del Hospital universitario Parc Taulí: TAU-TEM-2009-01.

Anthracycline-based triplets do not improve the efficacy of platinum-fluoropyrimidine doublets in first-line treatment of advanced gastric cancer: real-world data from the AGAMEMON National Cancer Registry

BACKGROUND

Although anthracycline-based triplets are one of the most widely used schedules to treat advanced gastric cancer (AGC), the benefit of including epirubicin in these therapeutic combinations remains unknown. This study aims to evaluate both the efficacy and tolerance of triplets with epirubicin vs. doublets with platinum-fluoropyrimidine in a national AGC registry.

METHODS

Patients with AGC treated with polychemotherapy without trastuzumab at 28 hospitals in Spain between 2008 and 2016 were included. The effect of anthracycline-based triplets against doublets was evaluated by propensity score matching (PSM) and Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression.

RESULT

A total of 1002 patients were included (doublets, n = 653; anthracycline-based triplets, n = 349). The multivariable Cox PH regression failed to detect significantly increased OS in favor of triplets with anthracyclines: HR 0.90 (95% CI, 0.78-1.05), p = 0.20035. After PSM, the sample contained 325 pairs with similar baseline characteristics. This method was also unable to reveal an increase in OS: 10.5 (95% CI, 9.7-12.3) vs. 9.9 (95% CI, 9.2-11.4) months, HR 0.91 (CI 95%, 0.76-1.083), and (log-rank test, p = 0.226). Response rates (42.1 vs. 33.1%, p = 0.12) and PFS (HR 0.95, CI 95%, 0.80-1.13, log-rank test, p = 0.873) were not significantly higher with epirubicin-based regimens. The triplets were associated with greater grade 3-4 hematological toxicity, and increased hospitalization due to toxicity by 68%. The addition of epirubicin is viable, but 23.7% discontinued treatment because of adverse effects or patient decision.

CONCLUSION

Anthracyclines added to platinum-fluoropyrimidine doublets did not improve the response rate or survival outcomes in patients with AGC but entailed greater toxicity.

MRI assessment and outcomes in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy only for primary rectal cancer: long-term results from the GEMCAD 0801 trial

Background

Primary chemotherapy has been tested as a possible approach for patients with high risk features but predicted clear mesorectal margins on preoperative MRI assessment. This study investigates the prognostic relevance of baseline and post-treatment MRI and pathology staging in rectal cancer patients undergoing primary chemotherapy.

Patients and methods

Forty-six patients with T3 tumour > =2 mm from the mesorectal fascia were prospectively treated with Neoadjuvant Capecitabine, Oxaliplatin and Bevacizumab prior to surgery between 2009 and 2011. The baseline and post-treatment MRI: T, Nodal and Extra-mural venous invasion (EMVI) status were recorded as well as post-treatment MRI Tumour regression grade (TRG) and modified-RECIST assessment of tumour length. The post-treatment pathology (yp) assessments of T3 substage, N, EMVI and TRG status were also recorded. Three-year disease-free survival (DFS) and cumulative incidence of recurrence were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine associations between staging and response on MRI and pathology with survival outcomes.

Results

About 46 patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone for high risk margin safe primary rectal cancer. The median follow-up was 41 months, 5 patients died and 11 patients experienced relapse (2 local, 8 distant and 1 both). In total 23/46 patients were identified with MRI features of EMVI at baseline. mrEMVI positive status carried independent prognostic significance for DFS (P = 0.0097) with a hazard ratio of 31.33 (95% CI: 2.3-425.4). The histopathologic factor that was of independent prognostic importance was a final ypT downstage of ypT3a or less, hazard ratio: 14.0 (95% CI: 1.5-132.5).

Conclusions

mrEMVI is an independent prognostic factor at baseline for poor outcomes in rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy while ≤ypT3a is associated with an improvement in DFS. Future preoperative therapy evaluation in rectal cancer patients will need to stratify treatment according to baseline EMVI status as a crucial risk factor for recurrence in patients with predicted CRM clear rectal cancer.

Nomogram-based prediction of survival in patients with advanced oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma receiving first-line chemotherapy: a multicenter prospective study in the era of trastuzumab

Background:

To develop and validate a nomogram and web-based calculator to predict overall survival (OS) in Caucasian-advanced oesophagogastric adenocarcinoma (AOA) patients undergoing first-line combination chemotherapy.

Methods:

Nine hundred twenty-four AOA patients treated at 28 Spanish teaching hospitals from January 2008 to September 2014 were used as derivation cohort. The result of an adjusted-Cox proportional hazards regression was represented as a nomogram and web-based calculator. The model was validated in 502 prospectively recruited patients treated between October 2014 and December 2016. Harrell's c-index was used to evaluate discrimination.

Results:

The nomogram includes seven predictors associated with OS: HER2-positive tumours treated with trastuzumab, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, number of metastatic sites, bone metastases, ascites, histological grade, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. Median OS was 5.8 (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.5–6.6), 9.4 (95% CI, 8.5–10.6), and 14 months (95% CI, 11.8–16) for high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups, respectively (P<0.001), in the derivation set and 4.6 (95% CI, 3.3–8.1), 12.7 (95% CI, 11.3–14.3), and 18.3 months (95% CI, 14.6–24.2) for high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups, respectively (P<0.001), in the validation set. The nomogram is well-calibrated and reveals acceptable discriminatory capacity, with optimism-corrected c-indices of 0.618 (95% CI, 0.591–0.631) and 0.673 (95% CI, 0.636–0.709) in derivation and validation groups, respectively. The AGAMENON nomogram outperformed the Royal Marsden Hospital (c-index=0.583; P=0.00046) and Japan Clinical Oncology Group prognostic indices (c-index=0.611; P=0.03351).

Conclusions:

We developed and validated a straightforward model to predict survival in Caucasian AOA patients initiating first-line polychemotherapy. This model can contribute to inform clinical decision-making and optimise clinical trial design.

Efficacy of trifluridine and tipiracil (TAS-102) versus placebo, with supportive care, in a randomized, controlled trial of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer from Spain: results of a subgroup analysis of the phase 3 RECOURSE trial

Purpose

TAS-102 is a combination of the thymidine-based nucleoside analog trifluridine and the thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor tipiracil. Efficacy and safety of TAS-102 in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) refractory or intolerant to standard therapies were evaluated in the phase 3 RECOURSE trial. Results of RECOURSE demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) with TAS-102 versus placebo [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.68 and 0.48 for OS and PFS, respectively; both P < 0.001]. The current analysis evaluates efficacy and safety of TAS-102 in the RECOURSE Spanish subgroup.

Methods

Primary and key secondary endpoints were evaluated in a post hoc analysis of the RECOURSE Spanish subgroup, using univariate and multivariate analyses. Safety and tolerability were reported with descriptive statistics.

Results

The RECOURSE Spanish subgroup included 112 patients (mean age 61 years, 62 % male). Median OS was 6.8 months in the TAS-102 group (n = 80) versus 4.6 months in the placebo group (n = 32) [HR = 0.47; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.28–0.78; P = 0.0032). Median PFS was 2.0 months in the TAS-102 group and 1.7 months in the placebo group (HR = 0.47; 95 % CI: 0.30–0.74; P = 0.001). Eighty (100 %) TAS-102 versus 31 (96.9 %) placebo patients had adverse events (AEs). The most common drug-related ≥Grade 3 AE was neutropenia (40 % TAS-102 versus 0 % placebo). There was 1 (1.3 %) case of febrile neutropenia in the TAS-102 group versus none in the placebo group.

Conclusions

In the RECOURSE Spanish subgroup, TAS-102 was associated with significantly improved OS and PFS versus placebo, consistent with the overall RECOURSE population. No new safety signals were identified.

ClinicalTrials.gov study number

NCT01607957

Oxaliplatin and 5-FU/folinic acid (modified FOLFOX6) with or without aflibercept in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: the AFFIRM study

BACKGROUND

The combination of aflibercept with FOLFIRI has been shown to significantly prolong overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) after progression on oxaliplatin-based therapy. This trial evaluated the addition of aflibercept to oxaliplatin-based first-line treatment of patients with mCRC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with mCRC were randomized to receive first-line therapy with mFOLFOX6 plus aflibercept (4 mg/kg) or mFOLFOX6 alone. The primary end point of this phase II study was the progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 12 months in each arm. The analysis of efficacy between the arms was a pre-planned secondary analysis.

RESULTS

Of 236 randomized patients, 227 and 235 patients were evaluable for the primary efficacy analysis and safety, respectively. The probabilities of being progression-free at 12 months were 25.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 17.2-34.4] for the aflibercept/mFOLFOX6 arm and 21.2% (95% CI 12.2-30.3) for the mFOLFOX6 arm. The median PFS was 8.48 months (95% CI 7.89-9.92) for the aflibercept/mFOLFOX6 arm and 8.77 months (95% CI 7.62-9.27) for the mFOLFOX6 arm; the hazard ratio of aflibercept/mFOLFOX6 versus mFOLFOX6 was 1.00 (95% CI 0.74-1.36). The response rates were 49.1% (95% CI 39.7-58.6) and 45.9% (95% CI 36.4-55.7) for patients treated with and without aflibercept, respectively. The most frequent treatment-emergent grade 3/4 adverse events (AEs) excluding laboratory abnormalities reported for aflibercept/mFOLFOX6 versus mFOLFOX6 were neuropathy (16.8% versus 17.2%) and diarrhea (13.4% versus 5.2%). Neutropenia grade 3/4 occurred in 36.1% versus 29.3%. The most common vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition class-effect grade 3/4 AEs for aflibercept/mFOLFOX6 versus mFOLFOX6 were hypertension (35.3% versus 1.7%), proteinuria (9.2% versus 0%), deep vein thrombosis (5.9% versus 0.9%) and pulmonary embolism (5.9% versus 5.2%).

CONCLUSION

No difference in PFS rate was observed between treatment groups. Adding aflibercept to first-line mFOLFOX6 did not increase efficacy but was associated with higher toxicity.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER

NCT00851084, www.clinicaltrials.gov, EudraCT 2008-004178-41.

Seom guidelines for the treatment of gastric cancer 2015

Gastric cancer is the fourth cause of death by cancer in Spain and a significant medical problem. Molecular biology results evidence that gastroesophageal junction tumors and gastric cancer should be considered as two independent entities with a different prognosis and treatment approach. Endoscopic resection in very early tumors is feasible. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy in locally advanced resectable tumor increase overall survival and should be considered standard treatments. In stage IV tumors, platinum–fluoropyrimidine-based schedule, with trastuzumab in HER2-overexpressed tumors, is the first-line treatment. Different therapies in second line have demonstrated in randomized studies their clear benefit in survival improvement.