Efficacy and tolerability of trabectedin in elderly patients with sarcoma: subgroup analysis from a phase 3, randomized controlled study of trabectedin or dacarbazine in patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma
Mené sur 131 patients âgés de plus de 65 ans et atteints d'un liposarcome ou d'un léiomyosarcome de stade avancé, cet essai de phase III compare l'efficacité, du point de vue de la survie globale, et la toxicité de la trabectédine et de la dacarbazine, après l'échec de chimiothérapies à base d'anthrayclines
Background : Treatment options for soft tissue sarcoma patients aged ≥65 years (elderly) can be limited by concerns regarding the increased risk of toxicity associated with standard systemic therapies. Trabectedin has demonstrated improved disease control in a phase 3 trial (ET743-SAR-3007) of patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma (LPS/LMS) after failure of anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Since previous retrospective analyses have suggested that trabectedin has similar safety and efficacy outcomes regardless of patient age, we performed a subgroup analysis of the safety and efficacy observed in elderly patients enrolled in this trial. Patients and Methods : Patients were randomized 2:1 to trabectedin (n = 384) or dacarbazine (n = 193) administered intravenously every-3-weeks. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS); secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), time-to-progression, objective response rate (ORR), duration of response, symptom severity, and safety. A post hoc analysis was conducted in the elderly patient subgroup. Results : Among 131 (trabectedin=94; dacarbazine=37) elderly patients, disease characteristics were well-balanced and consistent with those of the total study population. Treatment exposure was longer in patients treated with trabectedin versus dacarbazine (median 4 versus 2 cycles, respectively), with a significantly higher proportion receiving prolonged therapy (≥6 cycles) in the trabectedin arm (43% versus 23%, respectively; p=0.04). Elderly patients treated with trabectedin showed significantly improved PFS (4.9 versus 1.5 months, respectively; hazard ratio [HR]=0.40; p=0.0002) but no statistically significant improvement in OS (15.1 versus 8.0 months, respectively; HR = 0.72; p=0.18) or ORR (9% versus 3%, respectively; p=0.43). The safety profile for elderly trabectedin-treated patients was comparable to that of the overall trabectedin-treated study population. Conclusions : This subgroup analysis of the elderly population of ET743-SAR-3007 suggests that elderly patients with soft tissue sarcoma and good performance status can expect clinical benefit from trabectedin similar to that observed in younger patients.Trial registrationwww.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01343277
Annals of Oncology 2018