Safety and outcomes of new generation hormone-therapy in elderly chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients in the real world

The significance of G8 and other geriatric assessments in urologic cancer management: A comprehensive review

In urologic oncology, which often involves older patients, it is important to consider how to manage their care appropriately. Geriatric assessment (GA) is a method that can address the specific needs of older cancer patients. The GA encompasses various assessment domains, but these domains exhibit variations across the literature. Some of the common items include functional ability, nutrition, comorbidities, cognitive ability, psychosocial disorders, polypharmacy, social and financial support, falls/imbalance, and vision/hearing. Despite the diversity of domains, there is limited consensus on reliable measurement methods. This review discusses the role of GA in managing urologic cancer in unique scenarios, such as those necessitating temporary or permanent urinary catheters or stomas due to urinary diversion. A comprehensive GA is time and human-resource-intensive in real-world clinical practice. Hence, simpler tools such as the Geriatric-8 (G8), capable of identifying high-risk patients requiring a detailed GA, are also under investigation in various contexts. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review on the G8. Our findings indicate that patients with low G8 scores encounter difficulties with stoma self-care after urinary diversion and have higher risks of urinary tract infections and ileus after radical cystectomy. The utilization of G8 as a screening tool for urologic cancer patients may facilitate the delivery of appropriate and personalized treatment and care.

Treatment landscape and burden of disease in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: systematic and structured literature reviews

Purpose

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is a lethal disease that imposes a major burden on patients and healthcare systems. Three structured literature reviews (treatment guidelines, treatment landscape, and human/clinical/patient burden) and one systematic literature review (economic burden) were conducted to better understand the disease burden and unmet needs for patients with late-stage mCRPC, for whom optimal treatment options are unclear.

Methods

Embase®, MEDLINE®, MEDLINE® In-Process, the CENTRAL database (structured and systematic reviews), and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination database (systematic review only) were searched for English-language records from 2009 to 2021 to identify mCRPC treatment guidelines and studies related to the treatment landscape and the humanistic/economic burden of mCRPC in adult men (aged ≥18 years) of any ethnicity.

Results

In total, six records were included for the treatment patterns review, 14 records for humanistic burden, nine records for economic burden, three records (two studies) for efficacy, and eight records for safety. Real-world treatment patterns were broadly aligned with treatment guidelines and provided no optimal treatment sequencing beyond second line other than palliative care. Current post-docetaxel treatments in mCRPC are associated with adverse events that cause relatively high rates of treatment discontinuation or disruption. The humanistic and economic burdens associated with mCRPC are high.

Conclusion

The findings highlight a lack of treatment options with novel mechanisms of action and more tolerable safety profiles that satisfy a risk-to-benefit ratio aligned with patient needs and preferences for patients with late-stage mCRPC. Treatment approaches that improve survival and health-related quality of life are needed, ideally while simultaneously reducing costs and healthcare resource utilization.

Androgen receptor pathway inhibitors, prostate cancer, and older adults: a global Young International Society of Geriatric Oncology drug review

Prostate cancer is a disease of older adults that has undergone a significant therapeutic paradigm shift in the last decade with the emergence of novel androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPis). One of the more commonly used ARPis is enzalutamide. This drug, along with darolutamide and apalutamide, initially received approvals in the metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer setting but is now utilized frequently in the metastatic castrate-sensitive and non-metastatic castration-resistant settings. Landmark phase III data illustrating ARPi efficacy in older adults are limited to those with excellent performance status. However, its role in unfit older prostate cancer patients remains to be explored in the context of a narrative review. This first-of-its-kind drug review aims to shed light on the most up-to-date evidence behind the unique toxicity profile of ARPis in the context of geriatric vulnerabilities such as cognitive and functional impairment, along with potential solutions and supporting evidence that exists to circumvent these issues in the vulnerable older adult.

Factors influencing survival in metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer therapy

INTRODUCTION

The number of patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is expecting to increase due to the long-life expectancy of those with advanced disease who are also more commonly diagnosed today because of stage migration. Several compounds are available for treating these patients.

AREAS COVERED

We reviewed currently available treatments for mCRPC, their mechanism of action and resistance and we explored possible predictors of treatment success useful to predict survival in mCRPC patients.

EXPERT OPINION

A combination of molecular, clinical, pathological, and imaging features is necessary to correctly estimate patients' risk of death. The combination of these biomarkers may allow clinicians to tailor treatments based on cancer history and patients' features. The search of predictive biomarkers remains an unmet medical need for most patients with mCRPC.

Time on treatment with abiraterone and enzalutamide in the Patient-overview Prostate Cancer in The National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden

BACKGROUND

There are little and inconsistent data from clinical practice on time on treatment with the androgen receptor-targeted drugs (ART) abiraterone and enzalutamide in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We assessed time on treatment with ART and investigated predictors of time on treatment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Time on treatment with ART in men with mCRPC in the patient-overview prostate cancer (PPC), a subregister of the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden, was assessed by use of Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox regression. To assess the representativity of PPC for time on treatment, a comparison was made with all men in NPCR who had a filling for ART in the Prescribed Drug Registry.

RESULTS

2038 men in PPC received ART between 2015 and 2019. Median time on treatment in chemo-naïve men was 10.8 (95% confidence interval 9.1-13.1) months for abiraterone and 14.1 (13.5-15.5) for enzalutamide. After the use of docetaxel, time on treatment was 8.2 (6.5-12.4) months for abiraterone and 11.1 (9.8-12.6) for enzalutamide. Predictors of a long time on treatment with ART were long duration of ADT prior to ART, low serum levels of PSA at start of ART, absence of visceral metastasis, good performance status, and no prior use of docetaxel. PPC captured 2522/6337 (40%) of all men in NPCR who had filled a prescription for ART. Based on fillings in the Prescribed Drug Registry, men in PPC had a slightly longer median time on treatment with ART compared to all men in NPCR, 9.6 (9.1-10.3) vs. 8.6 (6.3-9.1) months.

CONCLUSIONS

Time on treatment in clinical practice was similar or shorter than that in published RCTs, due to older age, poorer performance status and more comorbidities.

Effect of Psychological Intervention Combined with Family Cooperation on the Perioperative Quality of Life and Psychological States of Elderly Patients with Prostate Cancer Treated with Compound Kushen Injection

Objective

The purpose of the study was to investigate the nursing effect of psychological intervention combined with family cooperation on elderly patients with prostate cancer treated with compound kushen injection and put forward effective suggestions.

Methods

122 elderly patients with prostate cancer admitted to our hospital from June 2018 to June 2019 were selected and randomly divided into a control group (n = 61) and experimental group (n = 61). The patients in the control group received routine nursing intervention during the perioperative period, while the patients in the experimental group were treated with psychological intervention combined with family cooperation on the basis of routine nursing. The quality of life and psychological states of patients in the two groups were statistically analyzed.

Results

The evaluation of psychological states at 24 hours before surgery and 24 hours before discharge in the experimental group was significantly better than that in the control group (P < 0.05), with statistical significance. On comparing the basic conditions between the two groups in the perioperative period, the length of hospitalization, length of catheter retention after surgery, and incidence of complications in the experimental group were all significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.05), with statistical significance. The satisfaction of patients with the nursing process in both groups was recorded and statistically analyzed through questionnaires. The satisfaction with nursing process in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05), with statistical significance. The quality of life of the patients was followed up at three months after discharge. The quality of life of the experimental group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05), with statistical significance.

Conclusion

Psychological intervention combined with family cooperation for the elderly patients with prostate cancer treated with compound kushen injection is beneficial to improve their psychological states, encourage them to face the disease in a more positive manner, effectively improve the quality of life after intervention, ensure the therapeutic effect during perioperative period, increase happiness index, and enhance their satisfaction with the nursing process, which is worthy of clinical application and popularization.

Hospitalization for adverse events under abiraterone or enzalutamide exposure in real-world setting: A French population-based study on prostate cancer patients

AIMS

Safety profiles of abiraterone and enzalutamide rely mainly on Phase III clinical trials. Our objective was to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for certain adverse events leading in real life to hospitalization (atrial fibrillation, acute heart failure, ischaemic heart disease, acute kidney injury [AKI], ischaemic stroke, torsade de pointe/QT interval prolongation, hepatitis and seizure), comparing abiraterone to enzalutamide. We also set out to discuss previously identified safety signals.

METHOD

Using the French National Health Insurance System database, all patients newly exposed to abiraterone or enzalutamide between 2013 and 2017 and followed until 31 December 2018 were targeted. IRRs for each event were estimated using a Poisson model in a sub-population of patients without contraindications or precautions for use for either treatment.

RESULTS

Among 11 534 new users of abiraterone and enzalutamide, AKI (IRR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.01-2.00), liver monitoring suggestive of hepatic damage (IRR 3.06, 95% CI: 2.66-3.53) and atrial fibrillation (IRR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.05-1.19) were significantly more often observed with abiraterone than with enzalutamide.

CONCLUSION

Our study provides knowledge on abiraterone and enzalutamide real-life safety profiles, especially for events leading to hospitalization. Despite several limitations, including the lack of clinical data, the safety signal for AKI under abiraterone is in line with results of an analysis of the French pharmacovigilance database, which requires further specific investigations. Enlightening the clinicians' therapeutic choices for patients treated for prostate cancer, our study should lead to clinicians being cautious in the use of abiraterone.

Prognostic value of ECOG performance status and Gleason score in the survival of castration-resistant prostate cancer: a systematic review

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status and Gleason score are commonly investigated factors for overall survival (OS) in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, there is a lack of consistency regarding their prognostic or predictive value for OS. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to assess the associations of ECOG performance status and Gleason score with OS in CRPC patients and compare the two markers in patients under different treatment regimens or with different chemotherapy histories. A systematic literature review of monotherapy studies in CRPC patients was conducted in the PubMed database until May 2019. The data from 8247 patients in 34 studies, including clinical trials and real-world data, were included in our meta-analysis. Of these, twenty studies reported multivariate results and were included in our main analysis. CRPC patients with higher ECOG performance statuses (≥ 2) had a significantly increased mortality risk than those with lower ECOG performance statuses (<2), hazard ratio (HR): 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68-2.62, and P < 0.001. The synthesized HR of OS stratified by Gleason score was 1.01, with a 95% CI of 0.62-1.67 (Gleason score ≥ 8 vs <8). Subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference in pooled HRs for patients administered taxane chemotherapy (docetaxel and cabazitaxel) and androgen-targeting therapy (abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide) or for patients with different chemotherapy histories. ECOG performance status was identified as a significant prognostic factor in CRPC patients, while Gleason score showed a weak prognostic value for OS based on the available data in our meta-analysis.

Observational study on time on treatment with abiraterone and enzalutamide

Introduction

The aim of this study was to assess time on treatment with abiraterone and enzalutamide, two androgen receptor targeted (ART) drugs, the impact on time on treatment of time interval without drug supply between prescription fillings, and adherence to treatment.

Material and methods

By use of data from The National Prostate Cancer Register, The Prescribed Drug Registry and the Patient Registry, time on treatment with the abiraterone and enzalutamide was analyzed in all men with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in Sweden 2015–2019. Three time intervals between consecutive fillings, i.e. time without drug supply, were assessed. Adherence to the treatment was evaluated by use of the Medication Possession Ratio. Kaplan Meier analysis and multivariable Cox regression model were used to assess factors affecting time on treatment.

Results

Between January 2015 and October 2019, 1803 men filled a prescription for abiraterone and 4 534 men filled a prescription for enzalutamide. With a time interval of 30 days or less between two fillings, median time on treatment was 4.9 months (IQR 2.6–11.7) for abiraterone and 8.0 months (IQR 3.6–16.4) for enzalutamide. In sensitivity analyses, allowing for no more than 14 days without drug supply between fillings, median time on treatment was 3.9 months (IQR 2.1–9.0) for abiraterone and 5.9 months (IQR 2.8–12.1) for enzalutamide. Allowing for any time period without drug between fillings, median time on treatment was 5.7 months (IQR 2.7–14.0) for abiraterone and 9.8 months (IQR 4.4–21.0) for enzalutamide. Adherence to treatment was above 90% for both drugs.

Conclusion

Time on treatment with abiraterone and enzalutamide was shorter in clinical practice than in randomized controlled trials and varied almost two-fold with time interval without drug. Adherence to treatment was high. The main limitation of our study was the lack of data on use of chemotherapy.

Risk Assessment and Considerations for Proper Management of Elderly Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review

CONTEXT

Treatment decisions for elderly men with prostate cancer are complicated by the intersection of competing risks of cancer, potential complications of treatment, and individual patients' comorbidities.

OBJECTIVE

To perform a systematic review of data guiding the assessment of elderly prostate cancer patients that addresses the risk from cancer and treatment, and to discuss a patient-centered approach to incorporating these factors into decision making.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

Evidence was gathered via a systematic review of the current literature. The search strategy used the terms prostate cancer, elderly, geriatric, >75 yr of age, risk assessment, and treatment in several combinations, and was limited to phase ≥ II clinical trials published between January 2008 and November 2018. Additional supporting literature for the discussion was pulled by hand search.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

The benefits of treatment identified for systemic therapies commonly used to treat men with prostate in general extend to elderly patients. Evidence supports a multifaceted assessment of the risks of cancer and aging, and an understanding of the side effects of treatment to optimally guide therapeutic decision making for elderly patients. There is little evidence defining a geriatric risk stratification system specific to prostate cancer, and recommendations are predominantly based on adapted geriatric oncology approaches and expert consensus.

CONCLUSIONS

The care of elderly men with prostate cancer should incorporate a review of cancer risk, an assessment of aging, and an understanding of the effects of treatment to provide the patient with thorough and personalized guidance for treatment decisions. Future studies of elderly men with prostate cancer can define and validate ideal risk stratification methods as well as management approaches that may be distinct from those for younger populations.

PATIENT SUMMARY

Treatment decisions for elderly men with prostate cancer require consideration of the risk posed by the cancer coupled with an understanding of the patient's general health status.