The prognostic and predictive role of pain before systemic chemotherapy in recurrent ovarian cancer: an individual participant data meta-analysis of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO) of 1226 patients.

BACKGROUND: Aim of this study was to analyze the impact of pain on quality of life and survival in recurrent OC patients. METHODS: Raw data including the QLQ-C30 questionnaire from three phase II/III trials ("Topotecan phase III," "Hector," and "TRIAS") conducted by the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO) were synthesized and analyzed using logistic and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: Data on pain was available for 952 patients out of 1226. Moderate to severe pain, which was defined as pain ≥ 50 in the QLQ-C30 symptom scale, was experienced by more than one-third of patients (36.6%). A total of 31% were taking non-opioid pain medication and 16% opioids. Median age at randomization was 61 years (range 25-84). Most patients (84.7%) were diagnosed in FIGO III/IV. Pain was independent from age, FIGO stage, grading, amount of recurrences, and chemotherapy-free interval. ECOG was significantly worse in patients with pain (p < 0.001). Fatigue, nausea/vomiting, sleeping disorders, and abdominal symptoms such as loss of appetite, diarrhea, and constipation were more frequently found in patients with pain (all p < 0.001). Quality of life was significantly diminished (p < 0.001). Pain was also an independent marker for overall survival (OS). Median OS was 18.2 months in patients with pain compared with 22.0 months in patients without pain (p = 0.013, HR 1.25, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.48). OS was shorter in patients with pain and without pain medication compared with those on sufficient pain medication, whereas OS was mostly decreased in patients having pain despite pain medication (18.5, 19.6, and 15.0 months respectively; p = 0.026). Progression-free survival and prior treatment discontinuation were not associated with pain. CONCLUSION: Best supportive care including sufficient pain medication should be delivered as early as possible because effective pain management is crucial for both quality of life and overall survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

Topotecan plus carboplatin versus standard therapy with paclitaxel plus carboplatin (PC) or gemcitabine plus carboplatin (GC) or pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus carboplatin (PLDC): a randomized phase III trial of the NOGGO-AGO-Study Group-AGO Austria and GEICO-ENGOT-GCIG intergroup study (HECTOR).

BACKGROUND: Randomized, phase III trial to evaluate safety and efficacy of topotecan and carboplatin (TC) compared with standard platinum-based combinations in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the experimental TC arm (topotecan 0.75 mg/m2/ days 1-3 and carboplatin AUC 5 on day 3 every 3 weeks) or to one of the standard regimes [(PC) paclitaxel plus carboplatin; (GC) gemcitabine plus carboplatin; (PLDC) pegylated liposomal doxorubicin and carboplatin] which could be chosen by individual preference but before randomization. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) after 12 months. Overall survival (OS), response rate, toxicity, quality of life and treatment preference regarding standard treatment were defined as secondary end points. RESULTS: A total of 550 patients were recruited. The PFS rate after 12 months was 37.0% for TC compared with 40.2% in the standard combinations (P = 0.470). The overall response rate was 73.1% for TC versus 75.1% for standard combinations (P = 0.149). After a median follow-up of 20 months, the median PFS was 10 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 9.4-10.6] and did not differ between both arms (P = 0.414). The median OS was 25 months in the TC arm versus 31 months in the standard arm (95% CI: 22.4-27.6 resp. 26.0-36.0; P = 0.163). Severe hematologic toxicities (grade 3/4) were rare in the experimental arm (P < 0.001), with 17.4% leucopenia, 27.8% neutropenia and 15.9% thrombopenia. CONCLUSION: The combination of carboplatin and topotecan was well tolerated with significant lower rates of severe hematological toxicities but did not improve PFS or OS in platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer compared with established standard regimens.

The influence of polypharmacy on grade III/IV toxicity, prior discontinuation of chemotherapy and overall survival in ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is mostly diagnosed in the elderly woman who is likely to have comorbid disease and to take several comedications on a regular basis. Aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of polypharmacy on grade III/IV toxicity, prior discontinuation of chemotherapy and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this individual participant data meta-analysis the original data of three phase II/III studies of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO) were analyzed using multivariate logistic and Cox regression. RESULTS: Overall, 1213 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer were included in these analyses. An increasing amount of medication was associated with overall grade III/IV toxicity (p<0.001; OR 1.120), and hematological (p<0.001; OR 1.056) and non-hematological (p<0.001; OR 1.134) toxicities. Prior discontinuation of chemotherapy was not influenced by an increasing amount of medication (p=0.196). There was no association of polypharmacy with overall survival (p=0.068). CONCLUSION: As polypharmacy does not influence survival ovarian cancer patients taking several comedications may be included in clinical trials and should not be deprived of adequate cancer treatment. However, a thorough monitoring is mandatory due to the increased risk of toxicities.

The influence of comorbidity and comedication on grade III/IV toxicity and prior discontinuation of chemotherapy in recurrent ovarian cancer patients: An individual participant data meta-analysis of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO).

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is usually a cancer of the older age group. Comorbidities and comedications increase with rising age. Aim of this study was to evaluate association of comorbidity and comedication with grade III/IV toxicities and prior cessation of chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: As an individual participant data meta-analysis this study analyzes the original data of three phase II/III chemotherapy studies of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO). Risk scores for certain combinations of risk factors were calculated based on stepwise regression analyses. RESULTS: Altogether, 1213 patients were included in the study. Cardiovascular disease was the most frequent comorbidity (47.5%). In multivariate analyses it was associated with hematological, non-hematological, pulmonary and renal grade III/IV toxicities (p=0.002; p<0.001; p=0.005; p<0.001). Renal toxicity was more frequent when using diuretics and ACE-inhibitors (p<0.001; p=0.002). Prior cessation of therapy was e.g. associated with use of diuretics, insulin and digitalis (p=0.001; p=0.04; p=0.03). The risk for renal grade III/IV toxicities was more than 16 times higher when using both a diuretic and an ACE-inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS: Regimens of ovarian cancer treatment should not be restricted to direct cancer therapy but rather include additional individualized treatment of comorbidities. Comedications such as diuretics increase grade III/IV toxicities and patients at risk should be closely monitored.

GCIG-Consensus guideline for Long-term survivorship in gynecologic Cancer: A position paper from the gynecologic cancer Intergroup (GCIG) symptom benefit committee.

INTRODUCTION: Long-term survivors of gynecological cancers may be cured but still have ongoing health concerns and long-term side effects following cancer treatment. The aim of this brainstorming meeting was to develop recommendations for long-term follow-up for survivors from gynecologic cancer. METHODS: International experts, representing each member group within the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG), met to define long-term survival, propose guidelines for long term follow-up and propose ways to implement long term survivorship follow-up in clinical trials involving gynecological cancers. RESULTS: Long-term survival with/from gynecological cancers was defined as survival of at least five years from diagnosis, irrespective of disease recurrences. Review of the literature showed that more than 50% of cancer survivors with gynecological cancer still experienced health concerns/long-term side effects. Main side effects included neurologic symptoms, sleep disturbance, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, bowel and urinary problems and lymphedema. In this article, long-term side effects are discussed in detail and treatment options are proposed. Screening for second primary cancers and lifestyle counselling (nutrition, physical activity, mental health) may improve quality of life and overall health status, as well as prevent cardiovascular events. Clinical trials should address cancer survivorship and report patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for cancer survivors. CONCLUSION: Long-term survivors after gynecological cancer have unique longer term challenges that need to be addressed systematically by care givers. Follow-up after completing treatment for primary gynecological cancer should be offered lifelong. Survivorship care plans may help to summarize cancer history, long-term side effects and to give information on health promotion and prevention.

Impact of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) on short-term mortality in patients with recurrent ovarian, fallopian or peritoneal carcinoma (the NOGGO-AGO QoL Prognosis-Score-Study): results of a meta-analysis in 2209 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Recurrent ovarian cancer is an incurable disease with variable but poor prognosis. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a patient-reported outcome measure generally applied to measure effects of therapies. Our aim was the development and validation of a risk score for the prediction of short-term mortality using the combination of sociodemographic and clinical factors and HRQoL. METHODS: For exploratory and validation analysis, the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO) and Working Group Gynecological Oncology (AGO) study databases were screened for trials. Only trials which obtained defined HRQoL measurements were included in the final analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors and their weighting for the risk score. Modulation with cubic regression analyses revealed median survival and short-term mortality defined as 1-year mortality for each value. RESULTS: For exploration, 974 patients from three clinical studies of the NOGGO and for validation, 1235 patients from several clinical studies of the AGO were eligible. The risk score included platinum-free interval, performance status, age, global QoL and nausea/vomiting. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed a good predictive value with an area under the curve of 0.81 for model 1 in the exploration and 0.74 in the validation. Short-term mortality in model 1 was 8.2%, 23.5% and 58.4% in the exploration sample, and 19.7%, 38.1% and 63.4% in the validation sample for patients under low, medium and high risk, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This risk score discriminates well between recurrent ovarian cancer patients under low, medium and high risk of short-term mortality. It may help to identify a risk group under high risk for short-term mortality that can be used for randomization in clinical trials and may support decision making for palliative chemotherapy.

Elderly ovarian cancer patients: An individual participant data meta-analysis of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO).

BACKGROUND: Barriers for optimal treatment and enrolment in clinical trials are the physicians' perceptions towards age, comorbidities and fear of toxicity as well as the eligibility criteria of clinical trials. There is a high need to gain more knowledge about this patient group in order to optimize treatment. We aimed to evaluate the influence of age above 65 years on comorbidities, comedication, grade III/IV toxicity, prior discontinuation of chemotherapy and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An individual participant data meta-analysis of three phase II/III studies ('Tower', 'Topotecan phase III' and 'Hector') of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology including 1213 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer was conducted using logistic regression and Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Median age at diagnosis was 59 years. The patient group ≥65 years included 349 versus 864 patients younger than 65 years. Cardiovascular disease and diabetes were more frequent in the older age group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001). Haematological and cardiovascular grade III/IV toxicities were more often seen in patients above 65 years, while non-haematological toxicity was not (p = 0.03, odds ratio [OR] 1.35; p = 0.04, OR 1.83; and p = 0.90, OR 0.98, respectively). There was no difference in prior discontinuation of treatment in multivariate analysis. Cox regression showed a trend towards poorer progression-free survival (p = 0.053, hazard ratio 1.143) in the older age group. CONCLUSION: Haematological and cardiovascular toxicities are more frequent in elderly patients. However, this did not influence prior discontinuation of therapy. Elderly patients should not be deprived of adequate chemotherapy or excluded from clinical studies just because of their age. Thorough geriatric assessment and monitoring is mandatory.

Extraperitoneal response to intraperitoneal immunotherapy with catumaxomab in a patient with cutaneous lymphangiosis carcinomatosa from ovarian cancer: a case report and review of the literature.

Cutaneous metastasation is a very rare manifestation of ovarian cancer. We present the case of a 64-year-old woman with recurrent platinum-refractory ovarian cancer and skin metastasis. The patient was treated with intraperitoneal catumaxomab due to massive refractory malignant ascites. Clinical response of the skin metastasis was observed during the intraperitoneal treatment with catumaxomab. Even though response of extraperitoneal tumor sites can be explained with intravascular uptake and a possible vaccination effect, this phenomenon has not been reported up to this point to the best of our knowledge.

Clinical experience of young patients with small cell ovarian carcinoma of the hypercalcemic type (OSCCHT).

OBJECTIVE: Small cell ovarian cancer of the hypercalcemic type (OSCCHT) is a very rare and highly aggressive disease which mainly affects young women, while optimal treatment guidelines have not yet been defined. The objective of this work is to present our experience with four OSCCHT patients. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated the surgical course and clinical outcome of all OSCCHT patients treated in the European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, Charité, University Medicine of Berlin. Pathology was reviewed by specialized gynecological pathologists of our center. RESULTS: Four OSCCHT patients were identified between 2008 and 2011 (median age: 24.5 years; range: 18-29) out of 845 ovarian cancer patients being operated on within this timeframe. Two patients were diagnosed at a very early tumor stage (FIGO Ia), one in FIGO IIb, and one patient presented with advanced stage disease FIGO IIIc. Treatment of choice was surgery followed by adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. In all patients the uterus was preserved and also the contralateral ovary in three out of the four patients. Within a median follow-up time of 22 months (range: 8-47) only the FIGO IIIC-patient relapsed twice and died 15 months after initial diagnosis. The other three patients are all alive and with no signs of relapse at 8, 29 and 47 months after initial diagnosis. CONCLUSION: OSCCHT is a rare tumor entity which usually affects young women with hopes of childbearing. The clinical course varies widely and although it is associated with an overall dismal prognosis, fertility-sparing surgery followed by platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy may be considered in early stages of the disease.