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Regulatory Issues: FDA |
Division of Biological Oncology Products, Office of Oncology Drug Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Key Words. Bevacizumab • Avastin® • Nonsquamous • Non-small cell lung cancer • First-line Advanced/metastatic disease
Correspondence: Martin H. Cohen, M.D., U.S. Food and Drug Administration, White Oak Campus, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Building 22, Room 2102, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993-0002, USA. Telephone: 301-796-1344; Fax: 301-796-9845; e-mail: martin.cohen{at}fda.hhs.gov
Received December 10, 2006; accepted for publication March 21, 2007.
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Learning Objectives
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Learning Objectives
Abstract
Introduction
Bevacizumab Pharmacokinetics
Patients and Methods
Results
Discussion
Disclosure of Potential...
Acknowledgments
References
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| ABSTRACT |
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A randomized, open label, multicenter clinical trial, conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), in chemotherapy-naïve patients with stage IIIB/IV nonsquamous NSCLC, evaluated bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel (BV/CP, n = 434) versus carboplatin and paclitaxel alone (CP, n = 444). Exclusion of patients with squamous or predominantly squamous histology was based on life-threatening or fatal hemoptysis occurring in 4 of 13 patients with squamous histology who received a BV/CP regimen in a phase II study.
Among the 878 randomized patients, the median age was 63, 46% were female, 76% had stage IV disease, 12% had stage IIIB disease with malignant pleural effusion, 11% had recurrent disease, and 40% had an ECOG performance status score of 0.
OS was significantly longer in patients receiving BV/CP than in those receiving CP alone (median OS, 12.3 versus 10.3 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.80; p = .013, stratified log rank test). Although a consistent effect was observed across most subgroups, in an exploratory analysis, evidence of a survival benefit was not observed in women (HR, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.791.25).
Severe and life-threatening adverse events occurring more frequently in patients receiving BV/CP were neutropenia (27% versus 17%), fatigue (16% versus 13%), hypertension (8% versus 0.7%), infection without neutropenia (7% versus 3%), thrombosis/embolism (5% versus 3%), pneumonitis or pulmonary infiltrate (5% versus 3%), infection with grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (5% versus 2%), febrile neutropenia (5% versus 2%), hyponatremia (4% versus 1%), proteinuria (3% versus 0), and headache (3% versus 0.5%). Fatal, treatment-related adverse events in patients receiving bevacizumab were pulmonary hemorrhage (2.3% versus 0.5%), gastrointestinal hemorrhage, central nervous system infarction, gastrointestinal perforation, myocardial infarction, and neutropenic sepsis.
The most serious, and sometimes fatal, bevacizumab toxicities are gastrointestinal perforation, wound healing complications, hemorrhage, arterial thromboembolic events, hypertensive crisis, nephrotic syndrome, congestive heart failure, and neutropenic sepsis. The most common adverse events in patients receiving bevacizumab are asthenia, pain, abdominal pain, headache, hypertension, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, stomatitis, constipation, upper respiratory infection, epistaxis, dyspnea, exfoliative dermatitis, and proteinuria.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
| INTRODUCTION |
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While several platinum-based doublet chemotherapy regimens (vinorelbine/cisplatin, gemcitabine/cisplatin, paclitaxel/cisplatin, and docetaxel/cisplatin) have been approved by the FDA for the first-line treatment of advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), these regimens demonstrate only a modest improvement in outcomes, with median survival durations of approximately 8 months, 1-year survival rates of about 33%, and response rates of approximately 20% [4, 5]. New first-line treatments for advanced/metastatic NSCLC are needed.
| BEVACIZUMAB PHARMACOKINETICS |
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Analyses of demographic data suggest that no dose adjustments are necessary for age or sex. No studies have been conducted to examine the pharmacokinetics of bevacizumab in patients with renal or hepatic impairment.
| PATIENTS AND METHODS |
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A randomized, open-label, controlled study was conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). Eligible patients were
18 years of age with histologically or cytologically confirmed advanced NSCLC (defined as stage IIIB with malignant pleural effusion, stage IV, or recurrent disease), except squamous cell carcinoma. Patients had to have adequate organ function and an ECOG performance status score of 0 or 1. Patients with gross hemoptysis (
1/2 tsp red blood) and those receiving therapeutic anticoagulation were excluded. Study eligible patients were stratified by the presence of measurable disease, prior radiation therapy, degree of weight loss, and disease stage, and were randomized to BV/CP or to CP alone.
Patients were treated on day 1 of each of six 3-week cycles. Chemotherapy included paclitaxel, 200 mg/m2, i.v. infusion over 3 hours, and carboplatin, target area under the curve of 6.0 mg/ml x min, i.v. infusion over 1530 minutes, immediately after paclitaxel. Bevacizumab, 15 mg/kg i.v., was administered immediately after carboplatin. Upon completion of six cycles of therapy, patients in the CP alone arm were to discontinue treatment while BV/CP patients who did not have progressive disease (PD) continued to receive bevacizumab at a dose of 15 mg/kg i.v. every 3 weeks until PD or unacceptable toxicity. Patients who discontinued protocol therapy were to be followed every 3 months for up to 2 years from study entry, and then every 6 months for an additional 3 years.
The primary efficacy outcome measure was survival duration. Survival analysis was based on an intent-to-treat population (all randomized patients regardless of whether or not the assigned treatment was actually received). Other endpoints were the progression-free survival (PFS) time and objective response rate (ORR). The primary safety analyses were based on all randomized patients who received study treatment, defined as at least one full or partial dose of any of the three study drugs. Two interim analyses were specified within the protocol, the first when 286 deaths had occurred and the second when 455 deaths had occurred. The results of these interim analyses, as well as safety data, were monitored by the ECOG Data Monitoring Committee.
A supporting randomized, open-label phase II study enrolled 98 patients who received BV/CP or CP alone, with BV at a dose of either 7.5 mg/kg or 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks [6]. Efficacy endpoints were time to disease progression, response rate, duration of response, and survival. That study identified squamous histology as a risk factor for life-threatening hemoptysis. In that study, 66 patients received BV/CP therapy. Six of those patients experienced a life-threatening bleed that may have been caused by tumor-related hemorrhage from pulmonary tumors. The presumed pulmonary hemorrhage event was fatal in four cases. An analysis performed by the sponsor suggested that squamous histology and bevacizumab therapy were the most likely risk factors for fatal pulmonary bleeds. Based on the identification of a possible new safety signal involving massive pulmonary hemorrhage in patients treated with bevacizumab for squamous histology NSCLC, the ECOG trial excluded patients with predominant squamous histology.
| RESULTS |
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Table 3 summarizes poststudy therapy. Some type of treatment was given to 66% of CP-treated patients and 62% of BV/CP-treated patients. Chemotherapy was administered to approximately 50% of patients in each group.
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65 years (HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.721.14), patients with
5% weight loss at study entry (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.731.26), and patients with histology other than adenocarcinoma (HRs varying between 0.92 and 1.48). All hazard ratios are from unstratified models. Based on investigator assessment, which was not independently verified, patients were reported to have a longer PFS time and higher objective response rate with BV/CP than with CP alone. Results from a smaller, supportive, phase II trial similarly demonstrated an investigator-assessed significantly better time to progression (TTP) and response rate for patients receiving BV/CP. The TTP was 7.4 months versus 4.2 months and response rates were 31.5% and 18.8%, respectively [6].
Although the safety data were limited by the protocol-mandated collection mechanisms, no new serious adverse event safety signal was identified from the data. National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria grade 35 nonhematologic and grade 4 and 5 hematologic adverse events in the phase III study occurring at a
2% higher incidence in BV/CP-treated patients than in control patients are listed in Table 5. Other serious adverse reactions in patients receiving bevacizumab include gastrointestinal perforations, wound healing complications, hemorrhage, arterial thromboembolic events, reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome, and congestive heart failure. Other common adverse events in patients receiving bevacizumab were asthenia, pain, abdominal pain, headache, hypertension, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, stomatitis, constipation, upper respiratory infection, epistaxis, dyspnea, and exfoliative dermatitis. In the current study, the rate of pulmonary hemorrhage requiring medical intervention for the BV/CP arm was 2.3% (10 of 427) compared to 0.5% (2 of 441) for the CP alone arm. There were seven deaths due to pulmonary hemorrhage reported by investigators in the CP plus Avastin® arm as compared to one in the CP alone arm.
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| DISCUSSION |
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The lack of a survival benefit in an exploratory analysis of the subgroup of female patients is concerning. A Cox multivariate analysis suggests that a treatment effect of bevacizumab on survival prolongation was present in female patients despite the results of the univariate analysis. In addition to the multivariate analysis results, bevacizumab was also found to positively affect both PFS and ORR for female patients in favor of the BV/CP arm, although as previously indicated, these secondary endpoints are less reliable than the survival endpoint. Similar considerations might apply to other subgroups that did not demonstrate survival benefit with bevacizumab treatment, including patients 65 years of age or older and patients with histologic subtypes other than adenocarcinoma or large cell undifferentiated cancer. Possible imbalances in baseline demographic characteristics and poststudy therapy might account for some of the observed results. The small number of patients, especially in the survival outcome by histology results, is another confounding factor.
Of interest, the BV/CP survival benefit was observed despite the administration of poststudy chemotherapy. Approximately 50% of patients received such treatment. Both erlotinib [7, 8] and docetaxel [9, 10] have been shown to increase survival when administered as second-line treatments.
Because this study demonstrated clinical benefit (survival prolongation), regular approval was granted. There are no required phase IV commitments with regular approval. Phase IV requests included submission of data from ongoing first-line bevacizumab plus chemotherapy studies in patients with advanced or recurrent nonsquamous NSCLC, to update safety information on bevacizumab administered to patients with previously treated central nervous system metastases, and to conduct a substudy to address the impact of bevacizumab on the QT interval.
| DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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