Pathologic Complete Response and Individual Patient Prognosis After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Plus Anti-Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Therapy of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Early Breast Cancer.

PURPOSE: The achievement of pathologic complete response (pCR) is strongly prognostic for event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with early breast cancer (EBC), and adapting postneoadjuvant therapy improves long-term outcomes for patients with HER2-positive disease not achieving pCR. We sought to investigate prognostic factors for EFS and OS among patients with and without pCR after neoadjuvant systemic treatment consisting of chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used individual data from 3,710 patients randomly assigned in 11 neoadjuvant trials for HER2-positive EBC with ≥100 patients enrolled, available data for pCR, EFS, and OS, and follow-up ≥3 years. We assessed baseline clinical tumor size (cT) and clinical nodal status (cN) as prognostic factors using stratified (by trial and treatment) Cox models separately for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative disease, and for patients who had pCR (pCR+; ypT0/is, ypN0) versus patients who did not achieve a pCR (pCR-). RESULTS: The median follow-up overall was 61.2 months. In pCR+ patients, cT and cN were significant independent prognostic factors for EFS, whereas only cT was a significant predictor for OS. In pCR- patients, cT, cN, and hormone receptor status were significant independent predictors for both EFS and OS. Regardless of hormone receptor status, cT, and cN, the 5-year EFS/OS rates were higher in pCR+ patients than in pCR- patients. In most subsets with regards to hormone receptor and pCR status, cT and cN were independent prognostic factors for both EFS and OS, including pCR+ patients. CONCLUSION: These results confirm that patients achieving pCR have far better survival outcomes than patients who do not. The traditional poor prognostic features, namely tumor size and nodal status, remain important even after a pCR.

Re-Evaluation of Pathologic Complete Response as a Surrogate for Event-Free and Overall Survival in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive, Early Breast Cancer Treated With Neoadjuvant Therapy Including Anti-Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Therapy.

PURPOSE: Pathologic complete response (pCR) has prognostic importance and is frequently used as a primary end point, but doubts remain about its validity as a surrogate for event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive, early breast cancer. METHODS: We obtained individual-patient data from randomized trials of neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy that enrolled at least 100 patients, had data for pCR, EFS, and OS, and a median follow-up of at least 3 years. We quantified the patient-level association between pCR (defined as ypT0/Tis ypN0) and both EFS and OS using odds ratios (ORs, with ORs >1.00 indicating a benefit from achieving a pCR). We quantified the trial-level association between treatment effects on pCR and on EFS and OS using R2 (with values above 0.75 considered as indicating strong associations). RESULTS: Eleven of 15 eligible trials had data for analysis (3,980 patients, with a median follow-up of 62 months). Considering all trials, we found strong patient-level associations, with ORs of 2.64 (95% CI, 2.20 to 3.07) for EFS and 3.15 (95% CI, 2.38 to 3.91) for OS; however, trial-level associations were weak, with an unadjusted R2 of 0.23 (95% CI, 0 to 0.66) for EFS and 0.02 (95% CI, 0 to 0.17) for OS. We found qualitatively similar results when grouping trials according to different clinical questions, when analyzing only patients with hormone receptor-negative disease, and when using a more stringent definition of pCR (ypT0 ypN0). CONCLUSION: Although pCR may be useful for patient management, it cannot be considered as a surrogate for EFS or OS in neoadjuvant trials of HER2-positive, operable breast cancer.

Efficacy and tolerability of once-monthly oral ibandronate (150 mg) and once-weekly oral alendronate (70 mg): additional results from the Monthly Oral Therapy With Ibandronate For Osteoporosis Intervention (MOTION) study.

BACKGROUND: The MOTION (Monthly Oral Therapy with Ibandronate for Osteoporosis Intervention) study reported that once-monthly ibandronate was noninferior to once-weekly alendronate in terms of increasing bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and total hip over 12 months. On analysis of secondary and exploratory end points in MOTION, which included trochanter and femoral neck BMD, monthly ibandronate was found to be noninferior to weekly alendronate. The coprimary, secondary, and exploratory BMD end points from MOTION have been previously reported. OBJECTIVE: This report presents additional results from the MOTION study, including response rates in terms of lumbar spine and total hip BMD gains above baseline; findings from a comparison of serum concentrations of bone turnover markers; and tolerability analysis, including adverse events that led to withdrawal and gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events. METHODS: MOTION was a 12-month (with 15-day follow-up), randomized, multinational, multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, noninferiority study in postmenopausal women aged 55 to <85 years with osteoporosis. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 150-mg-monthly oral ibandronate and weekly alendronate-matched placebo, or 70-mg-weekly oral alendronate and monthly ibandronate-matched placebo, for 12 months. At baseline, day 7 of treatment, 3 and 6 months, 6 months + 7 days, and 12 months, serum concentrations of markers of bone resorption (C-telopeptide of the a chain of type 1 collagen [sCTX]) and bone formation (serum N-terminal propeptides of type 1 collagen) were measured in a subset of the total trial population. At baseline and month 12, BMD was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Exploratory analyses of patients whose spine, total hip, and trochanter BMD at 12 months were above baseline (responders) were also performed. RESULTS: A total of 1760 women were enrolled (ibandronate, 887 patients; alendronate, 873). The median changes in the trough concentrations of sCTX were -75.5% with monthly ibandronate and -81.2% with weekly alendronate. The percentage of patients with mean lumbar spine and total hip BMD gains above baseline (responders) were 90% and 87%, respectively, for ibandronate and 92% and 90%, respectively, for alendronate. GI adverse events were reported in

Open-label comparative clinical study of chlorproguanil-dapsone fixed dose combination (Lapdap) alone or with three different doses of artesunate for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

UNLABELLED: The objective of this study was to determine the appropriate dose of artesunate for use in a fixed dose combination therapy with chlorproguanil-dapsone (CPG-DDS) for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. METHODS: Open-label clinical trial comparing CPG-DDS alone or with artesunate 4, 2, or 1 mg/kg at medical centers in Blantyre, Malawi and Farafenni, The Gambia. The trial was conducted between June 2002 and February 2005, including 116 adults (median age 27 years) and 107 children (median age 38 months) with acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Subjects were randomized into 4 groups to receive CPG-DDS alone or plus 4, 2 or 1 mg/kg of artesunate once daily for 3 days. Assessments took place on Days 0-3 in hospital and follow-up on Days 7 and 14 as out-patients. Efficacy was evaluated in the Day 3 per-protocol (PP) population using mean time to reduce baseline parasitemia by 90% (PC90). A number of secondary outcomes were also included. Appropriate artesunate dose was determined using a pre-defined decision matrix based on primary and secondary outcomes. Treatment emergent adverse events were recorded from clinical assessments and blood parameters. Safety was evaluated in the intent to treat (ITT) population. RESULTS: In the Day 3 PP population for the adult group (N = 85), mean time to PC90 was 19.1 h in the CPG-DDS group, significantly longer than for the +artesunate 1 mg/kg (12.5 h; treatment difference -6.6 h [95%CI -11.8, -1.5]), 2 mg/kg (10.7 h; -8.4 h [95%CI -13.6, -3.2]) and 4 mg/kg (10.3 h; -8.7 h [95%CI -14.1, -3.2]) groups. For children in the Day 3 PP population (N = 92), mean time to PC90 was 21.1 h in the CPG-DDS group, similar to the +artesunate 1 mg/kg group (17.7 h; -3.3 h [95%CI -8.6, 2.0]), though the +artesunate 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg groups had significantly shorter mean times to PC90 versus CPG-DDS; 14.4 h (treatment difference -6.4 h [95%CI -11.7, -1.0]) and 12.8 h (-7.4 h [95%CI -12.9, -1.8]), respectively. An analysis of mean time to PC90 for the Day 14 PP and ITT populations was consistent with the primary analysis. Treatment emergent, drug-related adverse events were experienced in 35.3% (41/116) of adults and 70.1% (75/107) of children; mostly hematological and gastroenterological. The nature and incidence of adverse events was similar between the groups. No dose-related changes in laboratory parameters were observed. Nine serious adverse events due to any cause occurred in five subjects including two cases of hemolysis believed to be associated with drug treatment (one adult, one child). One adult died of anaphylactic shock, not associated with investigational therapy. CONCLUSIONS: CPG-DDS plus artesunate demonstrated advantages over CPG-DDS alone for the primary efficacy endpoint (mean time to PC90) except in children for the 1 mg/kg artesunate dose. Based on a pre-defined decision matrix, the primary endpoint in the child group supported an artesunate dose of 4 mg/kg. Secondary endpoints also supported a 4 mg/kg artesunate dose to take forward into the remainder of the development program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00519467.

Monthly oral ibandronate is effective and well tolerated after 3 years: the MOBILE long-term extension.

Oral ibandronate is the first bisphosphonate licensed for once-monthly treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The 2-year Monthly Oral iBandronate In LadiEs (MOBILE) registration study assessed bone mineral density (BMD) and markers of bone turnover and showed that monthly oral ibandronate was at least as effective and well tolerated as a 2.5-mg daily oral regimen. In this study, we report the first year of a long-term extension study to MOBILE and a post hoc analysis of patients receiving 3 years of continuous treatment with monthly ibandronate. Patients who completed MOBILE were eligible for the partially randomized, double-blind extension study and received 100 mg (n = 359) or 150 mg (n = 360) monthly oral ibandronate. A post hoc analysis included patients who received either 100 mg (n = 173) or 150 mg (n = 169) monthly ibandronate continuously throughout the original 2-year MOBILE study and during the first year of the extension study. After one additional year of treatment (total of 3 years), mean lumbar spine BMD increased a further 1.5 and 1.1% in the 150 and 100 mg arms, respectively, compared with 2-year data (original MOBILE study). Total hip BMD changed by 0.3 and -0.08%, respectively. In the post hoc analysis, 3-year increases in lumbar spine BMD were significant in patients receiving ibandronate 150 mg monthly (7.6%; p < 0.0001 vs. baseline) and 100 mg monthly (6.4%; p < 0.0001 vs. baseline). Both groups achieved significant increases in total hip BMD after 3 years compared with baseline (3.4%, 100 mg; 4.1%, 150 mg; p < 0.0001). Serum C-telopeptide of the alpha chain of type I collagen decreased significantly over 3 years' treatment (p < 0.001; all comparisons vs. baseline), remaining within the premenopausal range. Once-monthly oral ibandronate was well tolerated with a low incidence of clinical osteoporotic fractures and upper gastrointestinal events. In conclusion, 150-mg monthly oral ibandronate is an effective and well-tolerated long-term treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis, with consistent improvement in BMD and bone turnover during 3 years' continuous treatment.