Outcomes of irinotecan-based chemotherapy regimens in elderly Medicare patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Estimating Chemotherapy Use Among Patients With a Prior Primary Cancer Diagnosis Using SEER-Medicare Data

Cancer treatment studies commonly exclude patients with prior primary cancers due to difficulties in ascertaining for which site treatment is intended. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare patients 65 years and older diagnosed with an index colon or rectal cancer (CRC) or female breast cancer (BC) between 2004 and 2013 were included. Chemotherapy, defined as "any chemotherapy" and more restrictively as "chemotherapy with confirmatory diagnoses," was ascertained based on claims data within 6 months of index cancer diagnosis by prior cancer history. Any chemotherapy use was slightly lower among patients with a prior cancer (CRC: no prior = 17.4%, prior = 16.1%; BC: no prior = 12.9%, prior = 12.0%). With confirmatory diagnoses required, estimates were lower, especially among patients with a prior cancer (CRC: no prior = 16.8%, prior = 13.6%; BC: no prior = 12.6%, prior = 11.0%). These findings suggest that patients with prior cancers can be included in studies of chemotherapy use; requiring confirmatory diagnoses can increase treatment assignment confidence.

Treatment guidelines of metastatic colorectal cancer in older patients from the French Society of Geriatric Oncology (SoFOG)

BACKGROUND

Several guidelines dedicated to metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) are available. Since 2013 no recent guidelines are specifically dedicated to older patients and based on a systematic review.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A multidisciplinary Task Force with digestive oncologists, geriatricians and methodologists from the SoFOG was formed in 2016 to update recommendations on medical treatment of mCRC based on a systematic review of publications from 2000 to 2018. Search strategy has followed a standardized protocol from the formulation of clinical questions and definition of a search algorithm to the selection of complete articles for recommendations.

RESULTS

The four selected key questions were: For which older patients with mCRC can we considered: (1) Any chemotherapy, (2) Mono or poly-chemotherapy, (3) Anti-angiogenic therapy, (4) Other targeted therapy. Main recommendations for older patients are: (1) Omission of chemotherapy should be discussed with a geriatrician for patients with severe comorbidities, advanced dementia, uncontrolled psychiatric disorder or severe loss of autonomy. (2) If tumor response is not the main aim, a mono-chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil combined with bevacizumab is recommended as first-line. (3) For patients with symptoms related to metastases or with a planned metastasis ablation, a doublet chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab or anti-EGFR antibody in the context of a RAS wild type tumor is recommended as first-line. Preliminary data suggest that regorafenib may be used, in its registered indication, in patients under 80 with a performance status of 0 and no autonomy alterations and that trifluridine-tipiracil may be used with a tight supervising of hematological function.

Adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer: who really needs it

Background

Although there is evidence that failure to reach the baseline of 12–13 lymph nodes in resected specimens is related to poor prognosis of patients with stage II colon cancer, and may be a marker of adjuvant therapy, the use of these markers remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the advantage of chemotherapy treatment in patients with stage II colon cancer on the basis of the number of lymph nodes examined in radical surgery.

Patients and methods

Using monitoring, epidemiology, and final outcome Medicare database, we authenticated 9,651 patients aged ≥66 years diagnosed with resected stage II colon cancer from 1999 to 2004. Medical insurance claims determined the adoption of chemotherapy within 3 months after radical operation. The relation between patient/tumor characteristics (including the number of lymph nodes examined) and the use of adjuvant chemotherapy was tested using chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression. Multivariate Cox model was used to compare survival rates between the treatment and untreated groups.

Results

Most patients (54.8%) had only 1–12 lymph nodes examined, while only 41.6% of the patients had >12 lymph nodes examined. Overall, 20.9% of patients received adjuvant chemotherapy; there was no relationship between chemotherapy and the number of lymph nodes examined (P=0.984). The presence of 12 or fewer lymph nodes in surgical specimens was related to poor overall survival (OS; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.31, 95% CI 1.21–1.41). Although adjuvant chemotherapy was related to our cohort improvement, its beneficial effects on OS (HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.64–0.83) and disease-free survival (HR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.60–0.85) only existed in patients with 0–12 lymph nodes examined.

Conclusion

The presence of 12 or fewer lymph nodes in surgical specimens is related to poor prognosis and survival benefit in adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer patients. More attention should be paid to the implementation of recommendations for lymph node dissection to help identify patients who really benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after colectomy.

Safety and Efficacy of Radioembolization in Elderly (≥ 70 Years) and Younger Patients With Unresectable Liver-Dominant Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND

The effects of advancing age on clinical outcomes after radioembolization (RE) in patients with unresectable liver-dominant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) are largely unknown.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This study was a retrospective analysis of 160 elderly (≥ 70 years) and 446 younger (< 70 years) consecutive patients from 11 US centers who received RE using ytrrium-90 ((90)Y) resin microspheres ((90)Y radioembolization [(90)Y-RE]) between July 2002 and December 2011. A further analysis was conducted in 98 very elderly patients (≥ 75 years). Statistical analyses of safety, tolerability, and overall survival were conducted.

RESULTS

Mean ages (± standard deviation) in the younger (< 70 years), elderly (≥ 70 years), and very elderly (≥ 75 years) cohorts were 55.9 ± 9.4 years, 77.2 ± 4.8 years, and 80.2 ± 3.8 years, respectively. Overall survival was similar between elderly and younger patients: 9.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.0-12.1) and 9.7 months (95% CI, 9.0-11.4) (P = .335). There were no differences between cohorts for any grade adverse events (P = .433) or grade 3+ events (P = .482). Analysis of patients ≥ 75 years and < 75 years confirmed similar overall survival (median, 9.3 months vs. 9.6 months, respectively; P = .987) and grade 3+ events (P = .398) or any adverse event (P = .158) within 90 days of RE.

CONCLUSION

For patients with unresectable liver-dominant mCRC who meet eligibility criteria for RE, (90)Y-RE microspheres appear to be effective and well-tolerated, regardless of age. Criteria for selecting patients for RE should not include age for exclusion from this potentially beneficial intervention.

The impact of delayed chemotherapy on its completion and survival outcomes in stage II colon cancer patients

Background

Delayed chemotherapy is associated with inferior survival in stage III colon and stage II/III rectal cancer patients, but similar studies have not been performed in stage II colon cancer patients. We investigate the association between delayed and incomplete chemotherapy, and the association of delayed chemotherapy with survival in stage II colon cancer patients.

Patients and Methods

Patients (age ≥66) diagnosed as stage II colon cancer and received chemotherapy from 1992 to 2005 were identified from the linked SEER–Medicare database. The association between delayed and incomplete chemotherapy was assessed using unconditional and conditional logistic regressions. Survival outcomes were assessed using stratified Cox regression based on propensity score matched samples.

Results

4,209 stage II colon cancer patients were included, of whom 73.0% had chemotherapy initiated timely (≤2 months after surgery), 14.7% had chemotherapy initiated with moderate delay (2–3 months), and 12.3% had delayed chemotherapy (≥3 months). Delayed chemotherapy was associated with not completing chemotherapy (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.33 (95% confidence interval: 1.11, 1.59) for moderately delayed group, adjusted OR: 2.60 (2.09, 3.24) for delayed group). Delayed chemotherapy was associated with worse survival outcomes (hazard ratio (HR): 1.75 (1.29, 2.37) for overall survival; HR: 4.23 (2.19, 8.20) for cancer-specific survival).

Conclusion

Although the benefit of chemotherapy is unclear in stage II colon cancer patients, delay in initiation of chemotherapy is associated with an incomplete chemotherapy course and poorer survival, especially cancer-specific survival. Causal inference in the association between delayed initiation of chemotherapy and inferior survival requires further investigation.

First-line mono-chemotherapy in frail elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Unlike for fit elderly metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients, general approaches to initial treatment for the frail older mCRC patients are not clear. Our aim was to evaluate the efficiency and safety of first-line single-agent treatment in one such group.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated mCRC patients aged 70 or older with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score of 2. They had no prior treatment and underwent first-line single-agent capecitabine or other monotherapies until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients were included. Most (n:28, 77.8%) were treated with capecitabine. One patient achieved a complete response and 5 patients had a partial response for an overall response rate of 16.6%. Twelve patients (33.3%) remained stable. Median progression free survival was 5 months (confidence interval (CI), %; 3.59-6.40) and median overall survival was 10 months (95 CI%; 8.1-11.8). Grade 3-4 toxicity was found in 6 patients (16.6%). Febrile neutropenia was not observed and there were no toxicity-associated deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

Capecitabine is a safe chemotherapeutic agent with moderate activity for first-line treatment of older metastatic colorectal cancer patients with limited performance status.

Patterns of care, predictors, and outcomes of chemotherapy in elderly women with early-stage uterine carcinosarcoma: a population-based analysis

OBJECTIVE

To examine the patterns of care, predictors, and impact of chemotherapy on survival in elderly women diagnosed with early-stage uterine carcinosarcoma.

METHODS

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database was used to identify women 65 years or older diagnosed with stage I-II uterine carcinosarcomas from 1991 through 2007. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox-proportional hazards models were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 462 women met the eligibility criteria; 374 had stage I, and 88 had stage II uterine carcinosarcomas. There were no appreciable differences over time in the percentages of women administered chemotherapy for early stage uterine carcinosarcoma (14.7% in 1991-1995, 14.9% in 1996-2000, and 17.9% in 2001-2007, P=0.67). On multivariable analysis, the factors positively associated with receipt of chemotherapy were younger age at diagnosis, higher disease stage, residence in the eastern part of the United States, and lack of administration of external beam radiation (P<0.05). In the adjusted Cox-proportional hazards regression models, administration of three or more cycles of chemotherapy did not reduce the risk of death in stage I patients (HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 0.83-2.39) but was associated with non-significant decreased mortality in stage II patients (HR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.32-1.95).

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 15-18% of elderly patients diagnosed with early-stage uterine carcinosarcoma were treated with chemotherapy. This trend remained stable over time, and chemotherapy was not associated with any significant survival benefit in this patient population.

Identifying specific chemotherapeutic agents in Medicare data: a validation study

BACKGROUND

Large health care databases are increasingly used to examine the dissemination and benefits and harms of chemotherapy treatment in routine practice, particularly among patients excluded from trials (eg, the elderly). Misclassification of chemotherapy could bias estimates of frequency and association, warranting an updated assessment.

METHODS

We evaluated the validity of Medicare claims to identify receipt of chemotherapy and specific agents delivered to elderly stage II/III colorectal (CRC), in situ/early-stage breast, non-small-cell lung, and ovarian cancer patients using the National Cancer Institute's Patterns of Care studies (POC) as the gold standard. The POC collected data on chemotherapy treatment by reabstracting hospital records, contacting physicians, and reviewing medical records. Patients' POC data were linked and compared with their Medicare claims for 2 to 12 months postdiagnosis. κ, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the receipt of any chemotherapy and specific agents.

RESULTS

Sensitivity and specificity of Medicare claims to identify any chemotherapy were high across all cancer sites. We found substantial variation in validity across agents, by site and administration modality. Capecitabine, an oral CRC treatment, was identified in claims with high specificity (98%) but low sensitivity (47%), whereas oxaliplatin, an intravenously administered CRC agent had higher sensitivity (75%) and similar specificity (97%).

CONCLUSIONS

Receipt of chemotherapy and specific intravenous agents can be identified using Medicare claims, showing improvement from prior reports; yet, variation exists. Future studies should assess newly approved agents and the impact of coverage decisions for these agents under the Medicare Part D program.

Identifying specific chemotherapeutic agents in Medicare data: a validation study

BACKGROUND

Large health care databases are increasingly used to examine the dissemination and benefits and harms of chemotherapy treatment in routine practice, particularly among patients excluded from trials (eg, the elderly). Misclassification of chemotherapy could bias estimates of frequency and association, warranting an updated assessment.

METHODS

We evaluated the validity of Medicare claims to identify receipt of chemotherapy and specific agents delivered to elderly stage II/III colorectal (CRC), in situ/early-stage breast, non-small-cell lung, and ovarian cancer patients using the National Cancer Institute's Patterns of Care studies (POC) as the gold standard. The POC collected data on chemotherapy treatment by reabstracting hospital records, contacting physicians, and reviewing medical records. Patients' POC data were linked and compared with their Medicare claims for 2 to 12 months postdiagnosis. κ, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the receipt of any chemotherapy and specific agents.

RESULTS

Sensitivity and specificity of Medicare claims to identify any chemotherapy were high across all cancer sites. We found substantial variation in validity across agents, by site and administration modality. Capecitabine, an oral CRC treatment, was identified in claims with high specificity (98%) but low sensitivity (47%), whereas oxaliplatin, an intravenously administered CRC agent had higher sensitivity (75%) and similar specificity (97%).

CONCLUSIONS

Receipt of chemotherapy and specific intravenous agents can be identified using Medicare claims, showing improvement from prior reports; yet, variation exists. Future studies should assess newly approved agents and the impact of coverage decisions for these agents under the Medicare Part D program.

A checklist for ascertaining study cohorts in oncology health services research using secondary data: report of the ISPOR oncology good outcomes research practices working group

OBJECTIVES

The ISPOR Oncology Special Interest Group formed a working group at the end of 2010 to develop standards for conducting oncology health services research using secondary data. The first mission of the group was to develop a checklist focused on issues specific to selection of a sample of oncology patients using a secondary data source.

METHODS

A systematic review of the published literature from 2006 to 2010 was conducted to characterize the use of secondary data sources in oncology and inform the leadership of the working group prior to the construction of the checklist. A draft checklist was subsequently presented to the ISPOR membership in 2011 with subsequent feedback from the larger Oncology Special Interest Group also incorporated into the final checklist.

RESULTS

The checklist includes six elements: identification of the cancer to be studied, selection of an appropriate data source, evaluation of the applicability of published algorithms, development of custom algorithms (if needed), validation of the custom algorithm, and reporting and discussions of the ascertainment criteria. The checklist was intended to be applicable to various types of secondary data sources, including cancer registries, claims databases, electronic medical records, and others.

CONCLUSIONS

This checklist makes two important contributions to oncology health services research. First, it can assist decision makers and reviewers in evaluating the quality of studies using secondary data. Second, it highlights methodological issues to be considered when researchers are constructing a study cohort from a secondary data source.

Expression of MSP58 in human colorectal cancer and its correlation with prognosis

We had reported that MSP58 regulates colorectal cancer cell proliferation, development, and apoptosis, by the cyclin D1-cyclin-dependent kinase 4-p21 pathway. In this study, MSP58 protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 499 specimens of CRC. The relationship between various clinicopathological features and overall patient survival rate was analyzed. The association of MSP58 expression with the 499 CRC patients’ survival rate was assessed by Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression. Using ROC curve to provide sensitivity and specificity of the score of MSP58 predicts local recurrence and survival of CRC patients. The expression of MSP58 was positively correlated with the depth of invasion (P < 0.001), local recurrence (P = 0.008), tumor grade (P = 0.002), and UICC stage (P < 0.001). The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the survival time of CRC patients with low expression of MSP58 was longer than those with high expression during the 5-year follow-up period (P < 0.001). COX regression analysis indicated that high expression of MSP58 (P < 0.001), depth of invasion >pT₁ (P = 0.008), distant organ metastasis (pM₁) (P < 0.001), regional lymph node metastasis (≥pN₁) (P < 0.001), and local recurrence (Yes) (P = 0.007) were independent, poor prognostic factors of CRC. ROC curve showed the score of MSP58 expression level did provide a maximal sensitivity and specificity to predict local recurrence and survival of CRC patients. Our results demonstrated MSP58 might serve as a novel prognostic marker that is independent of, and additive to, the UICC staging system.

Adjuvant therapy in colon cancer

Huge advances have been made in the treatment of colon cancer over the last decade. Success has been most noticeable in stage IV disease - where careful selection of patients with small-volume disease for treatment with surgical resection ± perioperative chemotherapy has resulted in an improvement in survival of approximately 5-50%; and stage III - disease where the advent of 5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin, as adjuvant treatment has also resulted in a significant prolongation in survival. Progression-free survival is now an established surrogate for overall survival, and has resulted in more timely reporting of adjuvant studies and therefore faster integration of promising agents into the clinic. Targeted agents, which have shown promise in the metastatic setting, are currently being examined in the adjuvant setting, although results so far are disappointing. Patients with high-risk stage II cancer remain a challenging group. They have a poorer prognosis than those with stage IIIA disease, and national and international guidance recommend offering chemotherapy after careful discussion of the pros and cons. Despite the fact that we have identified many of the biological features that make stage II disease higher risk, we still struggle to achieve the same improvement in survival for this subgroup compared with others. It may be that these patients required treatment with alternative regimens and predictive biomarkers would be particularly helpful.

Thermotherapy enhances oxaliplatin-induced cytotoxicity in human colon carcinoma cells

AIM: To observe the synergistic effects of hyperthermia in oxaliplatin-induced cytotoxicity in human colon adenocarcinoma Lovo cells.

METHODS: The human colon adenocarcinoma cell line Lovo was obtained from Sun Yat-Sen University. Cells were sealed with parafilm and placed in a circulating water bath, and was maintained within 0.01  °C of the desired temperature (37  °C, 39  °C, 41  °C, 43  °C and 45  °C). Thermal therapy was given alone to the negative control group while oxaliplatin was administered to the treatment group at doses of 12.5 μg/mL and 50 μg/mL. Identification of morphological changes, 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, flow cytometry and Western blotting were used to investigate the effect of thermochemotherapy on human colon adenocarcinoma Lovo cells, including changes in the signal pathway related to apoptosis.

RESULTS: A temperature-dependent inhibition of cell growth was observed after oxaliplatin exposure, while a synergistic interaction was detected preferentially with sequential combination. Thermochemotherapy changed the morphology of Lovo cells, increased the inhibition rate of the Lovo cells (P < 0.05) and enhanced cellular population in the G₀/G₁ phase (16.7% ± 4.8 % in phase S plus 3.7% ± 2.4 % in phase G₂/M, P < 0.05). Thermochemotherapy increased apoptosis through upregulating p53, Bax and downregulating Bcl-2. Protein levels were elevated in p53, Bax/Bcl-2 in thermochemotherapy group as compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Thermochemotherapy may play an important role in apoptosis via the activation of p53, Bax and the repression of Bcl-2 in Lovo cells.

Expression of CIAPIN1 in human colorectal cancer and its correlation with prognosis

Background

The cytokine-induced anti-apoptotic molecule (CIAPIN1) had been found to be a differentially-expressed gene involved in a variety of cancers, and it was also considered as a candidate tumour suppressor gene in gastric cancer, renal cancer and liver cancer. However, studies on the role of CIAPIN1 in colorectal cancer were still unavailable. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic impact of CIAPIN1 in 273 colorectal cancer (CRC) samples and to investigate the CIAPIN1 expression in CRC cell lines after inducing differentiation.

Methods

Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to detect the expression of CIAPIN1 in CRC samples from 273 patients. The relationship between CIAPIN1 expression and patients' characteristics (gender, age, location of cancer, UICC stage, local recurrence and tumour grade factors) was evaluated. In addition, these patients were followed up for five consecutive years to investigate the relationship between CIAPIN1 expression and the prognosis of CRC. We induced the differentiation of the CRC cell lines HT29 and SW480, in order to detect the expression of CIAPIN1 in the process of CRC cells differentiation.

Results

Results indicated that CIAPIN1 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and that its expression level in cancer samples was significantly lower than in normal tissues. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test showed a significant difference in the differential expression of CIAPIN1 in patients with different T and UICC stages, and tumour grade (P = 0.0393, 0.0297 and 0.0397, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the survival time of CRC patients with high expression of CIAPIN1 was longer than those with low expression during the 5-year follow up period (P = 0.0002). COX regression analysis indicated that low expression of CIAPIN1, cancer stage of > pT1, distant organ metastasis (pM₁), regional lymph node metastasis (> pN₁) and local recurrence (yes) were independent, poor prognostic factors of CRC (P = 0.012, P = 0.032, P <0.001, P <0.001, P <0.001 respectively). Both Western blotting and RT-PCR showed that CIAPIN1 expression was increased with the degree of differentiation of HT29 and SW480 cells.

Conclusions

CIAPIN1 played an important role in the differentiation of CRC cells, and the differential expression of CIAPIN1 in CRC was closely related to prognosis.