Oral vinorelbine plus capecitabine (oral vincap) combination in patients with advanced breast cancer (ABC). A phase II study of the GOIM (Gruppo Oncologico dell'Italia Meridionale)

Inetetamab combined with pyrotinib and oral vinorelbine for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive advanced breast cancer: A single-arm phase 2 clinical trial

Background

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted agents have significantly improved the outcomes of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer; however, a large proportion of patients still develop resistance to trastuzumab. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of inetetamab, another anti-HER2 antibody, combined with pyrotinib and oral vinorelbine in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer so as to provide new ideas for the treatment.

Methods

In this prospective, single-arm, phase 2 trial, patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer with disease progression after trastuzumab were recruited. Patients received a combination of inetetamab (loading dose of 8 mg/kg and subsequent doses of 6 mg/kg intravenously once every 3 weeks), pyrotinib (400 mg orally once daily), and vinorelbine (60 mg/m2 orally once weekly) until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), and safety.

Results

Between February 13, 2022 and December 25, 2022, 30 patients were screened and enrolled in this study. The median age of the patients at enrollment was 54 years, 12 patients (40.0 %) had hormone-receptor-positive disease and 23 patients (76.7 %) had visceral metastasis. The median PFS was 8.63 months (95 % confidence interval [CI] 4.15-13.12 months). The median OS was not reached. The ORR was 53.3 % (16/30) and the DCR was 96.7 % (29/30). The most common Grade III/IV adverse events were leukopenia (n = 5, 16.7 %), neutropenia (n = 4, 13.3 %), and diarrhea (n = 3, 10 %). No treatment-related serious adverse events or deaths occurred.

Conclusions

The combination regimen of inetetamab, pyrotinib, and oral vinorelbine showed encouraging efficacy and favorable safety in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer and could be considered as an alternative treatment option for the patients.

Trial registration

No.NCT05823623; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Oral Capecitabine-Vinorelbine is Associated with Longer Overall Survival When Compared to Single-Agent Capecitabine in Patients with Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer

Background: Single-agent capecitabine (C) is a moderately effective chemotherapeutic compound in the treatment of patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The capecitabine-vinorelbine (CV) combination is also used due to a good tolerability profile, but no studies have demonstrated its superiority over single-agent C. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and incidence of adverse events (AEs) in patients with HER2-negative mBC treated with CV vs. single-agent C. Results: Out of 290 patients included in this study, 127 (43.8%) received single-agent C, while 163 (56.2%) patients were treated with CV. Median PFS was similar in patients treated with single-agent C or CV, while CV was associated with significantly longer OS in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) BC. This OS advantage was confirmed at multivariable analysis also after propensity score-based matching of patients according to relevant clinical or tumor characteristics. When compared with single-agent C, CV was associated with higher incidence of G3/G4 and any-grade nausea/vomiting, diarrhea and increased transaminases. Conclusions: While prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings, the potential OS advantage of CV over single-agent C in HR+ mBC patients must be weighed against a significantly higher incidence of AEs.

Vinorelbine plus Capecitabine (Vinocap): a retrospective analysis in heavily pretreated HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer patients

PURPOSE

Metastatic breast cancer is regarded as an incurable entity. In heavily pretreated patients with increasingly limited options for palliative management, ensuring proper quality of life continues is to be an elusive issue. With this in mind, the authors evaluated the efficacy and safety of the Vinorelbine/Capecitabine doublet (VINOCAP).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The investigators retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 67 women with HER2 negative MBC treated at a large breast cancer practice and a local cancer center with Vinorelbine 22.5 mg/m2 IV on days 1 and 8 combined with Capecitabine 1 g PO BID for 14 consecutive days of 21 day cycles. Patients had been treated with an average of 4 prior lines of chemotherapy. Patient characteristics and outcomes were evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 67 patients received VINOCAP, and an additional 2 underwent repeat exposure yielding a cohort of 69. Clinical benefit rate, defined as complete response (CR), partial response (PR) or stable disease ≥ 6 months (SD), was 55.07%. Complete response was seen in 4.34%, PR in 18.8% and SD ≥ 6 months in 31.9%. Median progression-free survival was 6.2 months and overall survival 35.47 months after VINOCAP exposure. The most common grade 3-4 toxicity was neutropenia in 10% of cases. Dose had to be reduced in 18% of cases due to toxicity of any type. The regimen was well tolerated, and serious side effects were uncommon.

CONCLUSION

Vinorelbine/Capecitabine appears to be an active and well-tolerated regimen in women with MBC. In particular, encouraging was the efficacy of VINOCAP as fourth or greater line of chemotherapy.

Efficacy and Safety of the All-Oral Schedule of Metronomic Vinorelbine and Capecitabine in Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients: The Phase I-II VICTOR-1 Study

Background. Vinorelbine (VRB) and capecitabine (CAPE) are demonstrated to be active in pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients. Different studies have demonstrated that the metronomic treatment is active with an acceptable toxicity profile. We designed a Phases I-II study to define the MTD of oral metronomic, VRB, and CAPE. Patients and Methods. Phase I: fixed dose of CAPE was 500 mg thrice a day, continuously. Level I of VRB was 20 mg/tot thrice a week for 3 weeks (1 cycle). Subsequent levels were 30 mg/tot and 40 mg/tot (Level III), respectively, if no Grades 3-4 toxicity were observed in the previous level. Phase II: further 32 patients received the MTD of VRB plus CAPE for a total of 187 cycles to confirm toxicity profile. Results. 12 patients were enrolled in Phase I and 22 in Phase II. Phase I: the MTD of VRB was 40 mg. Phase II: 187 cycles were delivered, observing 5.9% of Grades 3-4 toxicity. 31 patients are evaluable for efficacy, obtaining a clinical benefit rate of 58.1%. Conclusion. MTD of VRB with fixed dose of CAPE was 40 mg thrice a week and was the recommended dose for the ongoing Phase II multicenter study.

All-oral combination of vinorelbine and capecitabine as first-line treatment in HER2/Neu-negative metastatic breast cancer

PURPOSE

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of an all-oral vinorelbine and capecitabine combination therapy in anthracycline- ± taxane-pretreated HER2/Neu-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

METHODS

A phase 2 trial including women >18 years with HER2/Neu-negative MBC previously exposed to anthracycline- ± taxane-based chemotherapy in the adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting. Enrolled patients received oral vinorelbine 60 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 and oral capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14 on a 3 weekly schedule. Patients with progressive disease after 3 cycles discontinued the study, while the remaining patients continued treatment for a maximum of 6 cycles.

RESULTS

From January 2007 to March 2011, 30 patients were enrolled in this study (median age 47 years). In the 28 evaluable patients, the overall response rate was 57.1 % (95 % CI 30-67 %), including 3 complete (10.7 %) and 13 partial (46.4 %) responses. Six (21.4 %) patients suffered from disease progression. With a median follow-up time of 13 months, the median time to disease progression was 8.6 months (95 % CI 6.2-10.6 months) and the median survival time was 27.2 months. Treatment-related adverse events were manageable, and no World Health Organization grade 4 toxicities were noted. Neutropenia observed in 6 (21.4 %) patients was the main grade 3 toxicity. Grade 3 nausea and vomiting were reported in 2 (7.1 %) and 3 (10.7 %) patients, respectively. Two (7.1 %) patients developed grade 3 hand and foot syndrome.

CONCLUSION

These results show that the combination of oral vinorelbine and capecitabine is an effective and well-tolerated first-line regimen for HER2/Neu-negative MBC patients pretreated with anthracyclines ± taxanes.

Anticancer oral therapy: emerging related issues

The use of oral anticancer drugs has shown a steady increase. Most patients prefer anticancer oral therapy to intravenous treatment primarily for the convenience of a home-based therapy, although they require that the efficacy of oral therapy must be equivalent and toxicity not superior than those expected with the intravenous treatment. A better patient compliance, drug tolerability, convenience and possible better efficacy for oral therapy as compared to intravenous emerge as the major reasons to use oral anticancer agents among oncologists. Inter- and intra-individual pharmacokinetic variations in the bioavailability of oral anticancer drugs may be more relevant than for intravenous agents. Compliance is particularly important for oral therapy because it determines the dose-intensity of the treatment and ultimately treatment efficacy and toxicity. Patient stands as the most important determinant of compliance. Possible measures for an active and safe administration of oral therapy include a careful preliminary medical evaluation and selection of patients based on possible barriers to an adequate compliance, pharmacologic issues, patient-focused education, an improvement of the accessibility to healthcare service, as well as the development of home-care nursing symptom-focused interventions. Current evidences show similar quality of life profile between oral and intravenous treatments, although anticancer oral therapy seems to be more convenient in terms of administration and reduced time lost for work or other activities. Regarding cost-effectiveness, current evidences are in favor of oral therapy, mainly due to reduced need of visits and/or day in hospital for the administration of the drug and/or the management of adverse events.

Capecitabine and Vinorelbine as an All-Oral Chemotherapy in HER2-Negative Locally Advanced and Metastatic Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND: The oral formulation of vinorelbine together with capecitabine allows for an all-oral combination chemotherapy which promises to raise quality of life of patients with advanced breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with HER2-negative, locally advanced, inoperable or metastatic breast cancer were included in this prospective observational trial (treatment schedule: capecitabine 500 mg/m2 twice daily, days 1-14; vinorelbine 60 mg/m2, days 1+8; repeated in 3-week cycles). RESULTS: All 32 patients (median age 50 years) were evaluable for toxicity, and 30 patients for response. Twentyfour patients received therapy as first-line treatment, and 8 patients as beyond first-line treatment. Median time to progression was 8 months, and median overall survival was 32 months. Complete response was observed in 1 patient (3%), partial response in 10 patients (33%), and disease stabilization for more than 6 months (SD > 6) in 10 patients (33%). This results in an overall response rate (ORR) of 37% and a clinical benefit rate (ORR + SD > 6) of 70%. The only grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (19%) and hand-foot syndrome (9%). CONCLUSIONS: The all-oral combination of capecitabine/vinorelbine at this schedule appears to be an effective, well-tolerated regimen for treatment of advanced breast cancer, and offers a promising alternative to single-agent capecitabine and vinorelbine as well as intravenous polychemotherapy.

Intravenous versus oral vinorelbine plus capecitabine as second-line treatment in advanced breast cancer patients. A retrospective comparison of two consecutive phase II studies

Vinorelbine (i.v.) plus capecitabine (oral) combination therapy is active in anthracycline/taxane pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer. Availability of oral vinorelbine provides this combination in an all-oral formulation. Two consecutive phase II trials differing only in vinorelbine administration routes evaluated their respective activities and tolerabilities in this population. In the i.v. group (n = 38) disease control was 61% (37% PR, 24% SD), median TTP 6.8 months and median survival 11.3 months. In the oral group (n = 38) disease control was 77% (5.4% CR, 34% PR, 38% SD), median TTP 7 months and median survival 10 months. G3-G4 neutropenia was more common in the oral group (p < 0.05); G2-G3 anaemia [5] and G3 thrombocytopenia [1] were observed only in the oral group. Although the comparison between the two regimens was not randomized, the results observed in these two consecutive phase II studies may suggest that oral and iv vinorelbine, in combination with capecitabine, can achieve similar responses in patients with metastatic breast cancer refractory to anthra-taxane combinations.

Possible use of combination chemotherapy with mitomycin C and methotrexate for metastatic breast cancer pretreated with anthracycline and taxanes

BACKGROUND

Most patients with breast cancer need anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimens in the adjuvant setting, and an increasing number of them receive taxanes either in this setting or as first-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). However, no standard chemotherapy has been fully established for MBC patients pretreated with anthracycline and taxanes.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 48 patients with MBC who had been treated with chemotherapy combining mitomycin C and methotrexate (MMC/MTX), following treatment with anthracycline and taxanes. MMC was given at a dose of 8 mg/m(2) on day 1, and MTX of 60 mg/m(2) on day 1 and day 15. The cycle was repeated every 4 weeks.

RESULTS

There were 11 partial responses (24%). The median time to progression was 4.8 months. The response rate of liver metastasis was 31%. Thrombocytopenia (grade 3) was observed in five patients (10%). Other toxicity was mild and manageable.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that MMC/MTX could be an effective subsequent treatment for patients whose MBC has been pretreated with anthracycline and taxanes.

Results of a phase I trial of intravenous vinorelbine plus oral capecitabine as first-line chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer

The management of metastatic breast cancer becomes increasingly intricate, requiring new drugs and combinations. We present here the results of a phase I study evaluating the maximal tolerated dose of vinorelbine combined with capecitabine as first-line chemotherapy. Vinorelbine was administered intravenously on days 1 and 15, and capecitabine was given orally twice daily from day 1 to 14 (three cycles every 21 days). Three out of six patients receiving vinorelbine at 25mg/m2/day and capecitabine at 2000 mg/m2/day presented with a dose-limiting toxicity, consisting of protracted grade 3 neutropenia, hand-foot syndrome and/or liver test disturbances. Despite of a dose reduction in vinorelbine (20mg/m2/day), one patient among four developed a dose-limiting febrile neutropenia. This regimen cannot be recommended as first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. These findings are not in agreement with previous publications of this schedule, or with promising results using both drugs orally.

Effective oral chemotherapy for breast cancer: pillars of strength

Traditionally, anticancer therapy has been dominated by intravenous drug therapy. However, oral agents provide an attractive approach to chemotherapy and use of oral treatments is increasing. We discuss the benefits and challenges of oral chemotherapy from the perspectives of patients, healthcare providers and healthcare funders. Important issues include patient preference, efficacy, compliance, bioavailability, reimbursement, use in special patient populations, financial and staff time savings and flexibility of dosing. We review data for traditional oral agents (e.g. cyclophosphamide, methotrexate), newer oral chemotherapies (e.g. capecitabine), oral formulations of traditionally intravenous agents (e.g. vinorelbine, idarubicin) and new biologic agents under evaluation in breast cancer (e.g. tyrosine kinase inhibitors). Lastly, we review studies of all-oral combination regimens. The wealth of data available and the increasing use of oral agents in breast cancer suggest that many of the concerns and perceptions about oral therapy, including efficacy and bioavailability, have been overcome, and that oral therapy will play a major role in breast cancer management in the future in both the metastatic and adjuvant settings.

Anti-tumor activity of capecitabine and vinorelbine in patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated metastatic breast cancer: findings from the EORTC 10001 randomized phase II trial

The aim of this randomized phase II study was to evaluate the anti-tumor activity and safety of capecitabine and vinorelbine in patients with metastatic breast cancer pretreated with taxanes and anthracyclines. We planned to randomize 72 patients to capecitabine 1250 mg/m(2) orally bid days 1-14 or vinorelbine 30 mg/m(2) i.v. days 1 and 8, both given every 3 weeks. The study was stopped due to poor accrual with 47 patients enrolled. Responses were seen in 2/23 patients treated with capecitabine (8.7%; 95% CI 1.1-29.0) and 3/24 patients treated with vinorelbine (12.5%; 95% CI 2.7-32.4). Median progression-free survival was 2.8 and 2.6 months, and median overall survival was 9.3 and 11.0 months, in the capecitabine and vinorelbine arms, respectively. There was more hematologic toxicity, neurotoxicity, and nausea/vomiting with vinorelbine and more diarrhea and hand-foot syndrome with capecitabine. The anti-tumor activity of capecitabine and vinorelbine seems to be comparable, but the toxicity profiles are different.

Capecitabine for the oral treatment of metastatic breast cancer

Women with metastatic breast cancer require tailored chemotherapy that improves outcomes without compromising quality of life. Capecitabine, a pro-drug of 5-fluorouracil, is an oral fluoropyrimidine carbamate that is sequentially activated in a three-step process. This results in the preferential production of 5-fluorouracil in tumors rather than in normal surrounding tissue, improving the tolerability and efficacy of 5-fluorouracil. In combination with docetaxel, capecitabine is the first agent that has shown superior activity to single-agent docetaxel, and it is a particularly appropriate option for younger, fitter patients with rapidly progressing disease and/or visceral metastases. However, for older patients and those with comorbidities and/or after progression to taxanes, single-agent capecitabine may be the best option. Its role in earlier disease stages (adjuvant therapy) is being investigated.