Quality of life in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) randomized to maintenance pazopanib or placebo after first-line chemotherapy in the AGO-OVAR 16 trial. Measuring what matters - patient centered endpoints in trials of maintenance therapy
A partir des données portant sur 940 patientes atteintes d'un cancer épithélial de l'ovaire de stade avancé et incluses dans un essai randomisé évaluant l'afficacité du pazopanib en traitement d'entretien après une chimiothérapie de première ligne, cette étude analyse l'impact du traitement sur la qualité de vie, sur la survie sans progression ajustée sur la qualité de vie, et évalue l'effet des symptômes et de la progression de la maladie sur la qualité de vie
Background : Health related quality of life (HRQOL) was a secondary endpoint in AGO-OVAR 16, which randomized 940 patients with EOC after first-line chemotherapy to maintenance pazopanib (PZ) or placebo (P). Additional post hoc analyses were carried out to investigate additional patient centered endpoints. Patients and Methods : HRQOL was measured with EORTC-QLQ-C30, QLQ-OV28 and EQ-5D-3L. Pre-specified endpoints included mean differences in HRQOL between treatment arms. Exploratory analyses included quality-adjusted progression-free survival (QAPFS), impact of specific symptoms and progressive disease (PD) on HRQOL and time to second-line chemotherapy. The objective was to provide clinical perspective to the significant median PFS gain of 5.6 months with PZ. Results : There were statistically significant differences between PZ and P in QLQ-C30 global health status (GHC) (5.5 points; 95%CI, 0.7 to 10.4, P=0.024) from baseline to 25 months, but not EQ-5D-3L (0.018 points; 95%CI, -0.033 to 0.069, P=0.485). The impact of diarrhea was captured in QLQ-OV28 Abdominal/GI-Symptoms scale (8.1 points; 95% CI, 3.6 to 12.5, P = 0.001). QAPFS was 386 days (95%CI, 366 to 404 days) with PZ vs 359 days (95%CI, 338 to 379 days) with placebo (P=0.052). PD was associated with a decline in HRQOL (P<0.0001). Median time to second-line chemotherapy was 19.7 months with PZ and 15.0 months with P (HR 0.72, 95%CI 0.69 to 0.86, P=0.0001). Conclusions : There were small to no significant mean score differences in global HRQOL and EQ5D-3L between PZ and placebo respectively despite the increased toxicity of PZ. Exploratory endpoints including QAPFS, impact of specific symptoms on HRQOL during treatment and at PD help place the PFS gain with PZ in context and interpret the results. Additional patient centered endpoints should be considered in trials of maintenance therapy in EOC beyond mean differences in HRQOL scores alone, to support the benefit to patients of prolongation of PFS.Clinical Trials Registration NumberNCT00866697
Annals of Oncology 2017