Multicenter phase II study of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin as a first-line therapy in Chinese patients with advanced gastric cancer

Off-Label Use of Antineoplastic Drugs to Treat Malignancies: Evidence From China Based on a Nationwide Medical Insurance Data Analysis

Purpose: Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Off-label (OL) use of antineoplastic drugs to treat malignancies is prevalent. In this study, we quantified and characterized OL use of antineoplastic drugs to treat malignancies in China. Methods: This was a retrospective study using nationwide data collected from 2008 to 2010. Use of antineoplastic drugs was considered OL if they were used for indications not reflected in the package insert published by the National Medical Products Administration at the time of prescription. Descriptive analysis and Spearman rank correlation were used to evaluate the frequency and pattern of OL drug use. Results: In total, 51,382 patients with malignancies, 24 categories of antineoplastic drugs, and 77 types of malignancies treated with OL drugs were included in this study. Twenty commonly used antineoplastic drugs (ICD encoded as L01) were used OL in 10-61% of cases, and four commonly used endocrine therapy antineoplastic drugs (ICD encoded as L02) were used OL in 10-19% of cases. There was a significant negative correlation between the disease constituent ratio and the average OL use rate of antineoplastic drugs for various malignancies. In contrast, there was a significant positive correlation between the average OL use rate of antineoplastic drugs and the number of malignancies treated with OL drugs. Conclusion: This study provided information regarding OL use of antineoplastic drugs for treatment of malignancies, and showed that OL use was prevalent. In addition, uncommon malignancies were more likely to be treated with OL antineoplastic drugs. Furthermore, more commonly used antineoplastic drugs were more likely to be used OL.

Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognosis of Upper Gastric Cancer Patients in China: A 32-Year Single-Center Retrospective Clinical Study

Purpose

Upper or proximal gastric cancer occurs in the upper third of the stomach between the cardia and a line connecting the greater and lesser curvatures. As it differs from other gastric cancers in pathology and prognosis, we evaluated patient and disease characteristics that might guide improved treatment and survival of upper gastric cancer.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 649 patients with upper gastric cancer and 1551 patients with lower gastric cancer and R0 radical surgery at our institution between January 1980 and December 2012.

Results

Survival after radical surgery for upper gastric cancer was 77.8% at 1 year, 49.6% at 3 years, and 41.1% at 5 years. The corresponding rates for lower gastric cancer were 85.9%, 60.0%, and 57.2% (p < 0.001). Upper gastric cancer had a poor prognosis. Sex (p = 0.036), tumor diameter (p = 0.001), macroscopic type (p < 0.001), pTM stage (p < 0.001), tissue differentiation type (p = 0.003), and serosal invasion (p = 0.034) were independently associated with lymph node metastasis. The macroscopic type (p = 0.045), lymphovascular tumor emboli (p = 0.021), and pTNM stage were independently associated with recurrence and metastasis. Survival of 333 patients with D2 total gastrectomy was 81.3% at 1 year, 54.4% at 3 years, and 45.2% at 5 years. The corresponding rates for 316 proximal gastrectomy patients were 75.4%, 44.9%, and 36.7%. Radical total gastrectomy had better survival than radical proximal resection.

Conclusions

Upper gastric cancers were more aggressive, had a worse prognosis, and were more prone to recurrence and metastasis compared with lower gastric cancers. Survival was better after total gastrectomy than after proximal resection.

Phase II trial of oxaliplatin plus oral capecitabine as first-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer

Aims and background

The efficacy of chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer is now widely accepted. However, the survival advantage is small, and no internationally accepted standard regimen has emerged. The present study investigated the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin plus oral capecitabine (XELOX regimen) as first-line chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Methods and study design

Patients received intravenous oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 over 2 h on day 1) plus oral capecitabine (1,000 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1–14). Treatments were repeated every 3 weeks.

Results

Seventy-four patients were enrolled in the study, median age was 61 years (range, 32–74); median follow-up was 13.2 months (range, 2–24.5). In total, 364 cycles of chemotherapy were delivered. Overall response rate was 62.2% (95% CI, 51.2–73.2), with 3 complete and 43 partial responses; median time to progression and overall survival were 5.9 (95% CI, 4.8–7.0) and 10.8 months (95% CI, 7.9–13.7), respectively. The most common hematological adverse event was anemia (67.6% of patients). Grade 3–4 neutropenia was observed in 5 patients. The most common nonhematological toxicities were neuropathy (64.9%), nausea/vomiting (48.6%), diarrhea (28.4%), and hand-foot syndrome (39.2%). Grade 3–4 toxicities were rare. There were no treatment-related deaths.

Conclusions

The XELOX regimen was active and well-tolerated as first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Capecitabine for the treatment of gastric cancer

Capecitabine is an orally administered prodrug of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and was designed to specifically affect tumor cells more than normal tissues. Capecitabine is as effective and well tolerated as infusional 5-FU in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Following the REAL-2 and ML17032 studies, capecitabine has replaced infusional 5-FU for treating GC. Capecitabine plus platinum is one of the most widely used regimens for the first-line treatment of AGC, regardless of HER2 status. The adjuvant capecitabine/oxaliplatin regimen is one therapeutic option for resectable gastric cancer, especially after D2 resection. Compared with S-1, capecitabine has been shown to have a similar efficacy, but is associated with fewer ethnic differences than S-1, which accounts for the more widespread usage of capecitabine worldwide.

Superior antitumor activity of trastuzumab combined with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin in a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive human gastric cancer xenograft model

In the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer, it has been reported that the combination of trastuzumab with capecitabine plus cisplatin, or with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus cisplatin, significantly increased overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone (ToGA trial). In addition, adjuvant therapy with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) improved the survival of patients who received curative D2 gastrectomy (CLASSIC trial). However, the efficacy of the combination of trastuzumab with XELOX for patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer remains unknown. The aim of this study, was to investigate the efficacy of the combination of trastuzumab with XELOX in a HER2-positive human gastric cancer xenograft model. Combination treatment with these three agents (trastuzumab 20 mg/kg, capecitabine 359 mg/kg and oxaliplatin 10 mg/kg), was found to exhibit a significantly stronger antitumor activity in NCI-N87 xenografts compared with either trastuzumab or XELOX alone. In this model, treatment with trastuzumab alone or trastuzumab plus oxaliplatin enhanced the expression of thymidine phosphorylase (TP), a key enzyme in the generation of 5-FU from capecitabine in tumor tissues. In in vitro experiments, trastuzumab induced TP mRNA expression in NCI-N87 cells. In addition, NCI-N87 cells co-cultured with the natural killer (NK) cell line CD16(158V)/NK-92 exhibited increased expression of TP mRNA. When NCI-N87 cells were cultured with CD16(158V)/NK-92 cells in the presence of trastuzumab, the mRNA expression of cytokines reported to have the ability to induce TP was upregulated in tumor cells. Furthermore, a medium conditioned by CD16(158V)/NK-92 cells also upregulated the expression of TP mRNA in NCI-N87 cells. These results suggest that trastuzumab promotes TP expression, either by acting directly on NCI-N87 cells, or indirectly via a mechanism that includes trastuzumab-mediated interactions between NK and NCI-N87 cells. Therefore, the combination of trastuzumab with XELOX may be a potent therapy for HER2-positive gastric cancer.

A phase II trial of Xeloda and oxaliplatin (XELOX) neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery for advanced gastric cancer patients with para-aortic lymph node metastasis

Purpose

Gastric cancer with para-aortic lymph node (PAN) involvement is regarded as advanced disease, and only chemotherapy is recommended from the guidelines. In unresectable cases, neoadjuvant chemotherapy could prolong survival if conversion to resectability could be achieved.

Methods

The study was a single-arm phase II trial. Patients who were diagnosed with gastric cancer and PAN involvement (Stations No. 16a2/16b1) were treated with capecitabine and oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy every 3 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. After every two cycles, abdominal computed tomographic scans were repeated to evaluate the response, and surgery was performed at the physician^’s discretion in patients with sufficient tumor response, followed by chemotherapy with the same regimen to complete a total of six cycles. The primary end point was the response rate of the preoperative chemotherapy. The secondary end points were R0 resection rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events.

Results

A total of 48 patients were enrolled. The response rate of the first-line chemotherapy was 49.0 %, and the clinical benefit response was 85.1 %. After a median of four cycles of chemotherapy, 28 patients received surgery (58.3 %). The median PFS and OS of all patients were 10.0 and 29.8 months, respectively. Patients in the surgery group had much longer PFS (18.1 vs. 5.6 mo, P = 0.001) and OS (not reached vs. 12.5 mo, P = 0.016) compared with those in the non-surgery group.

Conclusions

For gastric cancer patients with PAN involvement, neoadjuvant chemotherapy with XELOX demonstrated a good response rate, and a sufficient R0 resection rate, with acceptable toxicities. Further study is needed to confirm the effectiveness of this regimen.

Cost-utility analysis of the newly recommended adjuvant chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer patients in the 2011 Chinese National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Gastric Cancer

BACKGROUND

Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin was first recommended for resectable gastric cancer patients in the 2011 Chinese National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Gastric Cancer, but the economic influence of this therapy in China is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin after a gastrectomy with extended (D2) lymph-node dissection, compared with a D2 gastrectomy alone, for patients with stage II-IIIB gastric cancer.

METHODS

On the basis of data from the CLASSIC trial, a Markov model was created to determine economic and clinical data for patients in the chemotherapy and surgery group (CSG) and the surgery-only group (SOG). The costs, presented in 2010 US dollars and estimated from the perspective of the Chinese health-care system, were obtained from the published literature and the local health system. The utilities were based on published literature. Costs, life years (LYs), quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) were estimated. A lifetime horizon and a 3 % annual discount rate were used. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed.

RESULTS

For the base case, the CSG compared with SOG would increase LYs and QALYs in a 3-, 5-, 10- or 30-year time horizon (except the QALYs at 3 or 5 years). In the short run (such as in 3 or 5 years), the medical costs would increase owing to adjuvant chemotherapy of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin after D2 gastrectomy, but in the long run the costs would decline. The ICERs suggested that the SOG was dominant at 3 or 5 years and the CSG was dominant at 10 or 30 years. The one-way sensitivity analysis showed that the utility of disease-free survival for 1-10 years for the SOG and the cost of oxaliplatin were the most influential parameters. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis predicted a 98.6 % likelihood that the ICER for the CSG would be less than US$13,527/QALY (three times the per capita gross domestic product of China).

CONCLUSION

For patients in China with resectable disease, our results suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin after a D2 gastrectomy is cost-saving and dominant in the long run on the basis of a current clinical trial, compared with treatment with a D2 gastrectomy alone.

Economic evaluation of first-line adjuvant chemotherapies for resectable gastric cancer patients in China

Background

First-line postoperative adjuvant chemotherapies with S-1 and capecitabine and oxaliplatin (XELOX) were first recommended for resectable gastric cancer patients in the 2010 and 2011 Chinese NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Gastric Cancer; however, their economic impact in China is unknown.

Objective

The aim of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy with XELOX, with S-1 and no treatment after a gastrectomy with extended (D2) lymph-node dissection among patients with stage II-IIIB gastric cancer.

Methods

A Markov model, based on data from two clinical phase III trials, was developed to analyse the cost-effectiveness of patients in the XELOX group, S-1 group and surgery only (SO) group. The costs were estimated from the perspective of Chinese healthcare system. The utilities were assumed on the basis of previously published reports. Costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) were calculated with a lifetime horizon. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results

For the base case, XELOX had the lowest total cost ($44,568) and cost-effectiveness ratio ($7,360/QALY). The relative scenario analyses showed that SO was dominated by XELOX and the ICERs of S-1 was $58,843/QALY compared with XELOX. The one-way sensitivity analysis showed that the most influential parameter was the utility of disease-free survival. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis predicted a 75.8% likelihood that the ICER for XELOX would be less than $13,527 compared with S-1. When ICER was more than $38,000, the likelihood of cost-effectiveness achieved by S-1 group was greater than 50%.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that for patients in China with resectable disease, first-line adjuvant chemotherapy with XELOX after a D2 gastrectomy is a best option comparing with S-1 and SO in view of our current study. In addition, S-1 might be a better choice, especially with a higher value of willingness-to-pay threshold.

Adjuvant capecitabine and oxaliplatin for gastric cancer after D2 gastrectomy (CLASSIC): a phase 3 open-label, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

D2 gastrectomy is recommended in US and European guidelines, and is preferred in east Asia, for patients with resectable gastric cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy improves patient outcomes after surgery, but the benefits after a D2 resection have not been extensively investigated in large-scale trials. We investigated the effect on disease-free survival of adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin after D2 gastrectomy compared with D2 gastrectomy only in patients with stage II-IIIB gastric cancer.

METHODS

The capecitabine and oxaliplatin adjuvant study in stomach cancer (CLASSIC) study was an open-label, parallel-group, phase 3, randomised controlled trial undertaken in 37 centres in South Korea, China, and Taiwan. Patients with stage II-IIIB gastric cancer who had had curative D2 gastrectomy were randomly assigned to receive adjuvant chemotherapy of eight 3-week cycles of oral capecitabine (1000 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1 to 14 of each cycle) plus intravenous oxaliplatin (130 mg/m(2) on day 1 of each cycle) for 6 months or surgery only. Block randomisation was done by a central interactive computerised system, stratified by country and disease stage. Patients, and investigators giving interventions, assessing outcomes, and analysing data were not masked. The primary endpoint was 3 year disease-free survival, analysed by intention to treat. This study reports a prespecified interim efficacy analysis, after which the trial was stopped after a recommendation by the data monitoring committee. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00411229).

FINDINGS

1035 patients were randomised (520 to receive chemotherapy and surgery, 515 surgery only). Median follow-up was 34·2 months (25·4-41·7) in the chemotherapy and surgery group and 34·3 months (25·6-41·9) in the surgery only group. 3 year disease-free survival was 74% (95% CI 69-79) in the chemotherapy and surgery group and 59% (53-64) in the surgery only group (hazard ratio 0·56, 95% CI 0·44-0·72; p<0·0001). Grade 3 or 4 adverse events were reported in 279 of 496 patients (56%) in the chemotherapy and surgery group and in 30 of 478 patients (6%) in the surgery only group. The most common adverse events in the intervention group were nausea (n=326), neutropenia (n=300), and decreased appetite (n=294).

INTERPRETATION

Adjuvant capecitabine plus oxaliplatin treatment after curative D2 gastrectomy should be considered as a treatment option for patients with operable gastric cancer.

FUNDING

F Hoffmann-La Roche and Sanofi-Aventis.

A randomized phase II trial of S-1-oxaliplatin versus capecitabine-oxaliplatin in advanced gastric cancer

PURPOSE

S-1 or capecitabine plus oxaliplatin are considered active and tolerable in gastric cancer patients. We conducted a randomized phase II trial in gastric cancer patients to compare the activity and safety of these combinations.

METHODS

The patients received S-1 at 80 mg/m2 for 14 days, followed by a 7-day rest period within a 3-week schedule in the S-1/oxaliplatin (SOX) arm, and capecitabine at 2000 mg/m2 for 14 days, followed by a 7-day rest period within a 3-week schedule in the capecitabine/oxaliplatin (CAPOX) arm. Oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 was administered every 3 weeks in both arms.

RESULTS

One hundred twenty-nine patients were randomly assigned to SOX (N=65) or CAPOX (N=64). The median time to progression and the overall survival were 6.2 and 12.4 months with SOX, respectively; and 7.2 and 13.3 months with CAPOX, respectively. The overall response rates were 40% and 44% for SOX and CAPOX, respectively. The most frequent grade 3 or 4 toxicities were thrombocytopenia (15.4%) for SOX and neutropenia (18.8%) for CAPOX. The median time to 10% deteriorations in global health scores was similar in both arms (SOX, 4.3 months, CAPOX, 4.9 months).

CONCLUSION

Both the SOX and CAPOX regimens were equally active and well tolerated in advanced gastric cancer patients.

Neoadjuvant intraperitoneal and systemic chemotherapy for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination

BACKGROUND

The present study was designed to assess the feasibility and efficiency of intraperitoneal and intravenous neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination.

METHODS

The study subjects were 25 treatment-naïve patients with gastric cancer. Patients with positive cytology or with peritoneal carcinomatosis received neoadjuvant intraperitoneal and systemic chemotherapy (NIPS), comprising intraperitoneal (i.p.) mitomycin C (MMC) and cisplatin (CDDP), followed by two cycles of intravenous triplet chemotherapy of docetaxel, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and CDDP. Gastrectomy with lymph node dissection was performed after NIPS in patients free of peritoneal deposits, confirmed by staging laparoscopy.

RESULTS

Seventeen patients had measurable lymph node metastases by the RECIST criteria. CT examination showed response to the treatment in ten (59%, 0 complete response, 10 partial response). Of the 25 patients, 14 (56%) showed negative results on peritoneal cytology with no macroscopic peritoneal metastasis, whereas the remaining 11 were cancer cell-positive on peritoneal cytology or macroscopic peritoneal metastasis even after NIPS. The median survival time for all 25 patients was 16.7 months. Prognosis was better in patients who showed negative cytology and disappearance of peritoneal cancer metastases after NIPS than in those with positive cytology or existing peritoneal deposits (P < 0.0001). The predominant toxicity was myelosuppression and grade 3-4 leukopenia and neutropenia occurred in 20 (80%) patients, which were manageable. No treatment-related mortality was observed during and after NIPS and surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this prospective phase II study indicated that the newly designed NIPS was highly effective and well tolerated in patients with advanced gastric cancer and peritoneal dissemination.