ePHex: a phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of Oxalobacter formigenes in patients with primary hyperoxaluria.

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperoxalurias (PHs) are rare genetic diseases that increase the endogenous level of oxalate, a waste metabolite excreted predominantly by the kidneys and also the gut. Treatments aim to improve oxalate excretion, or reduce oxalate generation, to prevent kidney function deterioration. Oxalobacter formigenes is an oxalate metabolizing bacterium. This Phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial investigated the effectiveness of orally administered Oxabact™, a lyophilized O. formigenes formulation, at reducing plasma oxalate levels in patients suffering from PH. METHODS: Subjects (≥ 2 years of age) with a diagnosis of PH and maintained but suboptimal kidney function (mean estimated glomerular filtration rate at baseline < 90 mL/min/1.73 m2) were eligible to participate. Subjects were randomized to receive Oxabact or placebo twice daily for 52 weeks. Change from baseline in plasma oxalate concentration at Week 52 was the primary study endpoint. RESULTS: Forty-three subjects were screened, 25 were recruited and one was discontinued. At Week 52, O. formigenes was established in the gut of subjects receiving Oxabact. Despite decreasing plasma oxalate level in subjects treated with Oxabact, and stable/increased levels with placebo, there was no significant difference between groups in the primary outcome (Least Squares mean estimate of treatment difference was - 3.80 µmol/L; 95% CI: - 7.83, 0.23; p-value = 0.064). Kidney function remained stable in both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Oxabact treatment may have stabilized/reduced plasma oxalate versus a rise with placebo, but the difference over 12 months was not statistically significant (p = 0.06). A subtle effect observed with Oxabact suggests that O. formigenes may aid in preventing kidney stones. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.

Effects of Oxalobacter formigenes in subjects with primary hyperoxaluria Type 1 and end-stage renal disease: a Phase II study.

BACKGROUND: In primary hyperoxaluria Type 1 (PH1), endogenous oxalate overproduction significantly elevates urinary oxalate excretion, resulting in recurrent urolithiasis and/or progressive nephrocalcinosis and often early end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In ESRD, dialysis cannot sufficiently remove oxalate; plasma oxalate (Pox) increases markedly, inducing systemic oxalate deposition (oxalosis) and often death. Interventions to reduce Pox in PH1 subjects with ESRD could have significant clinical impact. This ongoing Phase II, open-label trial aimed to evaluate whether long-term Oxabact™ (Oxalobacter formigenes, OC5, OxThera Intellectual Property AB, Sweden) lowers Pox in PH1 ESRD subjects, ameliorating clinical outcome. METHODS: PH1 ESRD subjects on stable dialysis regimens were examined. Subjects were administered one OC5 capsule twice daily for up to 36 months or until transplantation. Total Pox values, cardiac function and safety were evaluated. Free Pox was evaluated in a comparative non-treated PH1 dialysis group using retrospective chart reviews and analyses. RESULTS: Twelve subjects enrolled in an initial 6-week treatment phase. Following a washout of up to 4 weeks, eight subjects entered a continuation study; outcomes after 24 months of treatment are presented. After 24 months, all subjects had reduced or non-elevated Pox compared with baseline. Cardiac function improved, then stabilized. No treatment-related serious adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with an untreated natural control cohort, 24 months OC5 administration was beneficial to PH1 ESRD subjects by substantially decreasing Pox concentrations, and improving or stabilizing cardiac function and clinical status, without increasing dialysis frequency. OC5 was safe and well-tolerated.

Plasma oxalate and eGFR are correlated in primary hyperoxaluria patients with maintained kidney function-data from three placebo-controlled studies.

BACKGROUND: In patients with primary hyperoxaluria (PH), endogenous oxalate overproduction increases urinary oxalate excretion, leading to compromised kidney function and often kidney failure. Highly elevated plasma oxalate (Pox) is associated with systemic oxalate deposition in patients with PH and severe chronic kidney disease (CKD). The relationship between Pox and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients with preserved kidney function, however, is not well established. Our analysis aimed to investigate a potential correlation between these parameters in PH patients from three randomized, placebo-controlled trials (studies OC3-DB-01, OC3-DB-02, and OC5-DB-01). METHODS: Baseline data from patients with a PH diagnosis (type 1, 2, or 3) and eGFR > 40 mL/min/1.73 m2 were analyzed for a correlation between eGFR and Pox using Spearman's rank and Pearson's correlation coefficients. Data were analyzed by individual study and additionally were pooled for Studies OC3-DB-02 and OC5-DB-01 in which the same Pox assay was used. RESULTS: A total of 106 patients were analyzed. A statistically significant inverse Spearman's correlation between eGFR and Pox was observed across all analyses; correlation coefficients were - 0.44 in study OC3-DB-01, - 0.55 in study OC3-DB-02, - 0.51 in study OC5-DB-01, and - 0.49 in the pooled studies (p < 0.0064). CONCLUSIONS: Baseline evaluations showed a moderate and statistically significant inverse correlation between eGFR and Pox in patients with PH already at early stages of CKD (stages 1-3b), demonstrating that a correlation is present before substantial loss in kidney function occurs.

A randomised Phase I/II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of orally administered Oxalobacter formigenes to treat primary hyperoxaluria.

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is a rare, genetic disorder which involves the overproduction of endogenous oxalate, leading to hyperoxaluria, recurrent urolithiasis and/or progressive nephrocalcinosis and eventually resulting in kidney failure and systemic oxalosis. The aim of this trial was to investigate whether treatment involving an oxalate-metabolising bacterium (Oxalobacter formigenes) could reduce urinary oxalate excretion in PH patients. METHODS: The efficacy and safety of O. formigenes (Oxabact® OC5; OxThera AB, Stockholm, Sweden) was evaluated in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study for 8 weeks. The primary objective was reduction in urinary oxalate excretion (Uox). Secondary objectives included faecal O. formigenes count and decrease in plasma oxalate concentration (Pox). RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients randomised 1:1 to the treatment group (OC5) or the placebo group completed the study. After 8 weeks of treatment, there was no significant difference in the change in Uox (mmol/24 h/1.73 m2) between the groups (OC5: +0.042, placebo: -0.140). Post-hoc analysis showed a statistically significant increase in Uox per urinary creatinine excretion in the OC5 group (OC5: +5.41, placebo: -15.96; p = 0.030). Change in Pox from baseline was not significantly different between groups (p = 0.438). The O. formigenes cell count was significantly increased in OC5-treated patients (p < 0.001) versus placebo. The treatment response to O. formigenes was related to individual stage of kidney deterioration, and Pox was directly correlated to kidney function, even for early-stage patients (chronic kidney disease stage 1). No safety issues were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with OC5 did not significantly reduce Uox or Pox over 8 weeks of treatment. The treatment was well tolerated and successfully delivered to the gastrointestinal tract.

Plasma oxalate: comparison of methodologies.

Measurement of oxalate in the blood is essential for monitoring primary hyperoxaluria patients with progressive renal impairment and on dialysis prior to transplantation. As no external quality assurance scheme is available for this analyte, we conducted a sample exchange scheme between six laboratories specifically involved with the investigation of primary hyperoxaluria to compare results. The methodologies compared were gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS), ion chromatography with mass spectrometry (ICMS), and enzymatic methods using oxalate oxidase and spectrophotometry. Although individual laboratories performed well in terms of reproducibility and linearity, there was poor agreement (absolute values) between centres as illustrated by a longer-term comparison of patient results from two of the participating laboratories. This situation was only partly related to differences in calibration and mainly reflected the lower recoveries seen with the ultrafiltration of samples. These findings lead us to conclude that longitudinal monitoring of primary hyperoxaluria patients with deteriorating kidney function should be performed by a single consistent laboratory and the methodology used should always be defined. In addition, plasma oxalate concentrations reported in registry studies and those associated with the risk of systemic oxalosis in published studies need to be interpreted in light of the methodology used. A reference method and external quality assurance scheme for plasma oxalate analysis would be beneficial.

Feasibility of two dose-dense FEC regimens with growth factor support for adjuvant therapy in patients with early breast cancer: results from a randomised study of the Central European Cooperative Oncology Group (CECOG).

Addition of epirubicin to adjuvant chemotherapy can provide important benefits for patients with early breast cancer, but the optimal dose remains unclear. Further improvements can be achieved with dose-dense regimens, but densification of fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) has proved difficult, with FEC(60) providing little benefit over standard chemotherapy and FEC(100) associated with toxicity. We investigated the feasibility of two intermediate dose-dense FEC regimens. Patients were randomised to six cycles of FEC(75) or FEC(90), with all three drugs given on day 1 of each 14-day cycle. Patients also received pegfilgrastim 6 mg as a single subcutaneous injection on day 2 of each cycle. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of subjects receiving > or =85% relative dose intensity and was achieved by 96% and 88% of patients in the FEC(75) and FEC(90) arms, respectively. Of 147 FEC(75) infusions, 4.1% were delayed, while 9.8% of 143 FEC(90) infusions were delayed. The most common reasons for delay were adverse events and personal/logistical reasons. One dose reduction occurred during the study (FEC(90)), related to diarrhoea. Grade 3-4 haematological toxicities were reported in two patients in the FEC(90) arm. There were no incidences of febrile neutropenia during the study. The most common adverse events were increases in liver enzymes and gastrointestinal events; no event resulted in discontinuation. Only one patient (FEC(90)) experienced serious adverse events (vomiting and throat oedema). In conclusion, dose-dense FEC(75 )and FEC(90) are feasible with pegfilgrastim support. These regimens are associated with a very low risk of Grade 3-4 toxicity.

Urine oxalate biological variation in patients with primary hyperoxaluria.

Hyperoxaluria is a well-recognised risk factor for urolithiasis and patients with primary hyperoxaluria (PH) gradually build up calcium oxalate deposits leading to chronic kidney disease. Efforts to improve treatment for PH have focused on reducing urine oxalate excretion and thus decreasing lithogenesis. To determine the efficacy of treatments designed to alter a biochemical parameter it is necessary to know the biological and analytical variation of that parameter. In this study, we estimated the intra-individual biological variation of urine oxalate excretion in patients with PH, and from this determined what would constitute a significant change in the form of a reference change value (RCV). Each patient collected four 24-h urines on consecutive weeks. The intra-individual biological variation of oxalate excretion calculated from these samples ranged from 0 to 36 % with a mean of 14 %. The corresponding RCVs were 4-84 % with a mean of 32 %. This result implies that, on average, a reduction of almost one-third in urine oxalate excretion is required to prove an effect from treatment. The wide range of biological variation between individuals may reflect other, as yet unknown, determinants of oxaluria in PH, as well as inaccuracies in urine collection. The data suggest that it is more appropriate to use individual RCVs established prior to treatment to determine its efficacy: a relatively small fall in urine oxalate excretion may be outside the biological variation of some patients but not of others.

FOLFOX4 Plus Cetuximab for Patients With Previously Untreated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer According to Tumor RAS and BRAF Mutation Status: Updated Analysis of the CECOG/CORE 1.2.002 Study.

BACKGROUND: This updated analysis of the CECOG/CORE 1.2.002 study investigated the association between clinical outcome and RAS and BRAF mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with FOLFOX4 plus cetuximab. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Available DNA samples from CECOG/CORE 1.2.002 study patients with KRAS exon 2 wild type (wt) (at codons 12 and 13) tumors were screened for mutations at other loci in the KRAS and NRAS (RAS) coding regions by Sanger sequencing, and for BRAF codon 600 mutations by Sanger sequencing and pyrosequencing. Clinical outcome was compared among different mutation subgroups. RESULTS: Of 152 KRAS wt mCRC patients, 148 were evaluable for RAS and BRAF mutation status. Eleven RAS mutations were detected in 10 patients' tumors (7%). BRAF mutations were detected in 14 patients' tumors (9%). RAS and BRAF tumor mutations were mutually exclusive. Compared with patients with RAS wt/BRAF wt tumors (n = 124; median overall survival, 28.5 months), those with RAS mutations (n = 10; median, 16.3 months; hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.89; P = .020) or BRAF mutations (n = 14; median, 11.7 months; hazard ratio, 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.41; P < .0001) had worse overall survival, which remained significant (P < .04) when adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics among the mutation subgroups. CONCLUSION: These findings support those from recent studies that RAS and BRAF mutations are associated with poor outcome in patients receiving an epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted monoclonal antibody in combination with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. Furthermore, mutation testing should not only include RAS codons 12 and 13 but should also be extended to the entire coding regions.