Understanding real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in AL amyloidosis patients diagnosed in Canada: A population-based cohort study.

Amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare and chronic bone marrow disorder. Existing claims data can be used to help understand the real-world treatment patterns and outcomes of this patient population. Various population-based administrative databases in Alberta, Canada were queried from 2010 to mid-2019 to identify cases of AL amyloidosis. Baseline patient and disease characteristics, sequencing of pharmacologic therapies, overall survival, and healthcare resource utilization were evaluated. A total of 215 individuals with AL amyloidosis were included. Among patients diagnosed between 2012 and 2019, 149 (85.1%) initiated first-line, 67 (38.3%) initiated second-line, 22 (12.6%) initiated third-line, and 11 (6.3%) initiated fourth-line systemic therapy. In the first-line setting, 99/149 (66.4%) received bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone (CyBorD) and 21/149 (14.1%) received another bortezomib-based regimen. Survival from time of diagnosis improved over time, with a median overall survival of 25.8 months (95% CI: 9.8, 57.1) for individuals diagnosed in 2010-2011 versus 52.1 months (95% CI: 25.6, NA) for those diagnosed in 2012-2019. Despite this improvement, the proportion of individuals diagnosed in 2012-2019 who survived beyond five-years remained low (5-year survival: 48.4%; 95% CI: 40.9, 57.2) which highlights an unmet need for more efficacious therapies.

Real-world evidence in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with abiraterone acetate + prednisone (AA+P) across Canada: Final results of COSMiC.

INTRODUCTION: Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AA+P) has shown to significantly improve survival. COSMiC, a Canadian Observational Study in Metastatic Cancer of the Prostate, set out to prospectively amass real-world data on metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients managed with AA+P in Canada. Herein, we report their patient-reported outcomes (PROs). METHODS: After a median followup of 67.1 weeks, 254 patients were enrolled across 39 sites. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF), Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), and Current Health Satisfaction in Prostate Cancer (CHS-PCa) were evaluated at baseline, as well as at weeks 12, 24, 48, and 72 after AA+P initiation. Descriptive analysis was used with continuous variables. Changes from baseline were summarized using mean (standard deviation [SD]). RESULTS: At a median age of 76.6 (8.94), baseline FACT-P total score was 111.3 (19.56) with no significant change in their functional status observed from baseline over time. The median baseline MoCA score was 25.2 (4.52), yet subsequent assessments showed an absence of cognitive decline while under treatment. Similarly, no meaningful changes were detected in BPI, BFI, and CHS-PCa during the 72-week study period, thus suggesting that patients' PROs were well-maintained throughout AA+P treatment. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response with >50% decline was 66.4%. Safety profile was consistent with the known side effect of AA+P. CONCLUSIONS: COSMiC represents the largest Canadian mCRPC cohort treated with AA+P with real-world, prospective evaluation of PROs. This data demonstrated the maintenance in quality of life and cognitive status over the course of the study and underscores the importance of PRO use in this complex patient population.

Patients previously transfused or treated with epoetin alfa at low baseline hemoglobin are at higher risk for subsequent transfusion: an integrated analysis of the Canadian experience.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of recombinant human erythropoietin to the management of anemia in cancer patients has resulted in significant reductions in allogeneic blood transfusions, while at the same time contributing to improvements in quality of life. A recent meta-analysis of five randomized, placebo-controlled trials with patient-level data revealed that, while epoetin alfa was very effective in reducing transfusions compared with placebo, patients who were pretransfused were twice as likely to subsequently be transfused during epoetin alfa treatment. METHODS: To further assess the validity of this rather provocative concept, another integrated analysis was conducted with patient-level data from three Canadian trials, with a combined total of 665 patients receiving epoetin alfa treatments for their cancer- and chemotherapy-induced anemia. RESULTS: Once again, pretransfusion was the most significant baseline predictor of transfusion, with patients that were pretransfused having a significantly greater likelihood of being transfused than their transfusion-naive counterparts. Furthermore, and corroborating previous findings, baseline hemoglobin (Hb) level was again found to be a significant predictor of transfusion, with patients who were treated at a baseline Hb level < 10 g/dl having a higher chance of being transfused than patients in whom epoetin alfa was initiated at baseline Hb levels of 10-11 g/dl. In addition, when the total units transfused in patients receiving epoetin alfa at different baseline Hb levels were analyzed, >85% of the units of blood transfused were received by patients with baseline Hb levels < 10 g/dl. CONCLUSION: These data strongly suggest that early treatment with epoetin alfa could significantly optimize clinical benefit in reducing the use of transfusion in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.