Eligibility for Photoimmunotherapy in Patients with Unresectable Advanced or Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer and Changes before and after Systemic Therapy.

Photoimmunotherapy is a novel cancer treatment that recently became covered by national health insurance in Japan, but treatment decision-making remains challenging for unresectable advanced or recurrent head and neck cancer. We aimed to clarify the characteristics of patients for whom photoimmunotherapy was indicated by a retrospective chart review. Patients aged ≥20 years diagnosed with advanced or recurrent head and neck cancer who started receiving systemic therapy at the National Cancer Center Hospital East from January 2016 through December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Before and after first-line systemic therapy, patients were classified into 3 groups according to eligibility for photoimmunotherapy: eligible, potentially eligible, and ineligible. In total, of 246 patients evaluated-194 after exclusions were analyzed-108 were deemed ineligible for treatment. Of the remaining 86 patients, 8 were considered potentially eligible and 9 eligible. Of the nine eligible patients, four became ineligible after receiving first-line systemic therapy due to disease progression. Our results suggest that the indication of photoimmunotherapy should be considered before, during, and after systemic therapy for unresectable locally advanced or recurrent head and neck cancer.

[Pharmacological characteristics and clinical study results of the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib (NINLARO® capsules; 2.3†mg, 3†mg, and 4†mg)].

Ixazomib (Ninlaro® capsule) is an oral small molecule 20S proteasome inhibitor created by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc (Takeda Oncology Company). Ubiquitin proteasome system is a major regulatory system for maintaining protein homeostasis, and an important mechanism for degrading proteins, such as those involved in proliferation regulation, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, in cells. Ixazomib selectively and reversibly binds to the ß5 subunit of the 20S proteasome, inhibits its chymotrypsin-like activity, and thereby accumulates ubiquitinated proteins. It induces ER stress and apoptosis of myeloma cells. The phase 3, randomized, double-blind, multicenter global study (TOURMALINE-MM1) in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma, who have received 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy, showed that addition of ixazomib to lenalidomide-dexamethasone (ixazomib-Rd) demonstrated significant improvement in progression-free survival (hazard ratio = 0.742, P = 0.012) versus placebo-Rd (20.6 vs. 14.7 months in the median) (data cut-off as of October 30, 2014). Ixazomib has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in November 2015, and the European Medicines Agency in November 2016 for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) patients who have received at least one prior therapy. In Japan, ixazomib was approved for the treatment of relapsed and/or refractory MM in March, 2017. It is expected to demonstrate that the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib is an effective and convenient treatment option in clinical practice.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase III study of pazopanib in patients with soft tissue sarcoma: results from the Japanese subgroup.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis of the Japanese subpopulation of the PALETTE Phase III, randomized, placebo-controlled study investigated efficacy and safety of pazopanib in patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma after failure of standard chemotherapy. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either pazopanib 800 mg once daily or placebo, with no subsequent cross-over. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints included overall survival and overall response rate. Efficacy analysis was by intent-to-treat. Safety was also investigated. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients received either pazopanib (n = 31) or placebo (n = 16). Median progression-free survival was 7.0 weeks (95% confidence interval: 4.0-11.7) for placebo and 24.7 weeks (95% confidence interval: 8.6-28.1) for pazopanib (hazard ratio = 0.41 [95% confidence interval: 0.19-0.90]; P = 0.002). Median overall survival was 14.9 months (95% confidence interval: 6.8-not calculable) for placebo and 15.4 months (95% confidence interval: 7.9-28.8) for pazopanib (hazard ratio = 0.87 [95% confidence interval: 0.41-1.83]; P = 0.687). More patients receiving pazopanib experienced best response of stable disease versus placebo. Adverse events were similar to the global population; those leading to dose reduction were more common and mean daily dose was lower in the Japanese population versus the global population (45 vs. 32% and 624.4 vs. 700.4 mg, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy and safety of pazopanib observed in the Japanese subpopulation of PALETTE were similar to those in the global population. Pazopanib is a new treatment option for Japanese patients with metastatic non-adipocytic soft tissue sarcoma after chemotherapy. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00753688; GSK study ID: VEG110727; http://www.gsk-clinicalstudyregister.com/study/VEG110727#ps.