The safety and efficacy of second-line single docetaxel (75 mg/m²) therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who were previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy

Sintilimab plus docetaxel as second-line therapy of advanced non-small cell lung cancer without targetable mutations: a phase II efficacy and biomarker study

BACKGROUND

Single-agent immunotherapy is currently the recommended second-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without targetable mutations; however, the objective response rate (ORR) remains low. This phase II study evaluated the efficacy of the combination therapy of sintilimab plus docetaxel and explored potential biomarkers for efficacy prediction.

METHODS

Thirty patients with NSCLC without targetable mutations whose disease progressed from first-line platinum-based chemotherapy from October 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled in this single-arm, single-center, phase II trial. Sintilimab (200 mg) and docetaxel (75 mg/m²) were administered every 3 weeks until progression. The primary endpoint was ORR. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Biomarker analyses of blood and tissue samples were also performed.

RESULTS

Among 30 patients, 11 patients had partial response, resulting in an ORR of 36.7%. The median PFS was 5.0 months (95%CI: 3.9-6.1) and OS was 13.4 months (95%CI: 5.6-21.2). The most common immune-related adverse event of any grade was hepatitis, observed in 23.3% (7/30) of patients. Treatment-emergent adverse events were manageable. Patients detected with high PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells (cutoff value ≥32.5% based on the median CTC-PD-L1 expression) achieved significantly higher ORR (60% versus 13.3%, p = 0.021) and significantly longer median PFS (6.0 versus 3.5 months, p = 0.011) and median OS (15.8 versus 9.0 months, p = 0.038) than those with low CTC-PD-L1 level. Patients detected with PD-L1 < 1% and CD8 ≥ 1% expression from their baseline tissue samples had significantly higher ORR (83.3% versus 12.5%, p = 0.026) but similar PFS (p = 0.62) and OS (p = 0.15).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of sintilimab plus docetaxel as a second-line treatment of NSCLC without targetable mutations after progression from first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study was registered in the Clinical trials registry with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03798743 (SUCCESS).

Randomized phase II study comparing weekly docetaxel-cisplatin vs. gemcitabine-cisplatin in elderly or poor performance status patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Docetaxel/cisplatin (DP) and gemcitabine/cisplatin (GP) are standard treatment regimens for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In spite of potent efficacy, the conventional 1-day DP is regarded as having more toxicity as compared with GP. There is increasing interest in a biweekly split administration of DP to reduce its toxicity. Hypothesis was that first-line biweekly DP is as safe as GP in the elderly or poor performance status (PS) patients.

METHODS

Chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced NSCLC (IIIB/IV) who were elderly (65<) or PS (ECOG 2) were randomized to DP or GP arm by balancing for ECOG (0-1 vs. 2) and stage (IIIB vs. IV). DP comprised docetaxel (35 mg/m²)/cisplatin (30 mg/m²) iv on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks. GP comprised gemcitabine (1000 mg/m²)/cisplatin (30 mg/m²) iv on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks. Chemotherapy lasted up to 4-6 cycles or until progression. Primary endpoint was safety (proportion of grade 3/4 toxicities). Planned sample size was 49 patients in each arm.

RESULTS

From November 2009 to August 2012, a total of 99 patients were randomized (DP 50/GP 49) from nine institutions. Adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were observed in 62% and 33% of patients, respectively. Toxicity profiles were comparable for both arms and the differences were not statistically significant except for anemia and leucocytopenia. Any grade of anemia (86 vs. 98%) and of leucocytopenia (18 vs. 43%) was more common in the GP arm with statistical significance. Oral mucositis tended to be predominant in the DP arm. Patients in the DP arm (51%) suffered grade 3 or higher toxicities as did 47% in the GP arm (47%). The most common grade 3 or higher toxicities were as follows: In the DP arm, neutropenia (8%), leucopenia (8%), anemia (4%), pneumonia with normal ANC (4%) and febrile neutropenia (2%) were observed. In the GP arm, anemia (15%), neutropenia (15%), pneumonia with normal ANC (4%), thrombocytopenia (4%) and leucopenia (2%) were observed. The best overall response rates (CR + PR) for the DP and GP arms were 20.0 and 21% with no CR, respectively, and disease control rates (CR + PR + SD) were 70.0 and 76%, respectively. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 3.7 and 14.9 months in the DP arm and 5.6 and 20.8 months in the GP arm, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that DP is similar to GP in terms of efficacy and toxicity in treatment of elderly or poor performance patients. Both regimens showed similar grade 3/4 toxicities with different profiles.

Weekly low-dose docetaxel for salvage chemotherapy in pretreated elderly or poor performance status patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Although docetaxel monotherapy has shown clinical benefits for previously treated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the efficacy of salvage docetaxel chemotherapy for elderly patients or patients with poor performance status (PS) is controversial. Therefore, we conducted a phase II trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly low-dose docetaxel monotherapy in these patients. Forty NSCLC patients, who had been previously treated with one or more chemotherapy regimens, received docetaxel at a dose of 25 mg/m(2) weekly on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. All patients were >or=65 yr or had a PS of grade 2 in the cases of <65 yr. Weekly low-dose docetaxel was well-tolerated. Grade 3/4 non-hematologic toxicities were rare; fatigue in 3 patients (8%), anorexia in 3 patients (8%) and stomatitis in 2 patients (5%). Grade 3/4 neutropenia was noted in only one patient (3%). By intent-to-treat analysis, nine patients (23%) had partial responses and eleven patients (28%) demonstrated stable disease. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 9.9 weeks and 37.7 weeks, respectively. Weekly low-dose docetaxel therapy provides a reasonable alternative for NSCLC salvage treatment in pretreated elderly patients or in patients with a reduced PS.

Docetaxel monotherapy as second-line treatment for pretreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Second-line chemotherapy offers advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients a small, but significant increase in survival. Docetaxel is usually administered as a 3-week schedule, yet there is significant toxicity with this therapy. Therefore, a weekly schedule has been explored in several previous trials. In this retrospective study, we compared the efficacy and safety of a weekly schedule and a 3-week schedule of docetaxel monotherapy in a second-line setting.

METHODS

Docetaxel was administered as 75 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks or as 37.5 mg/m2 on day 1 and 8 every 3 weeks until disease progression or severe toxicity developed.

RESULTS

From October 2003 to March 2006, a total of 37 patients received docetaxel monotherapy and 36 patients could be evaluated. A total of 135 cycles were administered and then evaluated. The median overall survival was 13.3 months (95% confidence interval: 6.3-20.3) for the weekly schedule and 10.7 months (95% confidence interval: 8.3-13.0) for the 3-week schedule (p=0.41). The median time to progression was 3.0 months (95% confidence interval: 1.9-4.0) and 2.8 months (95% confidence interval: 1.0-4.6), respectively (p=0.41). The response rate was 16.7% for the weekly schedule and 21.1% for the 3-week schedule. The major form of hematologic toxicity was grade 3-4 neutropenia (3-week: 38.9%, weekly: 9.5%). The non-hematologic toxicities were similar between the two schedules. There were no treatment-related deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

A docetaxel weekly schedule was very tolerable and it had comparable activity to that of the 3-week docetaxel schedule. Considering the efficacy and tolerability, a docetaxel weekly schedule can be an alternative schedule for the standard treatment of NSCLC in a second-line setting.