Effectiveness and safety of capecitabine, irinotecan and panitumumab in advanced colorectal cancer.

Introduction: Capecitabine, irinotecan, and panitumumab (CAPIRI-P) is a controversial regimen for metastatic colorectal cancer, with concerns regarding the efficacy and toxicity. However, its toxicity profile has been improved with dose reduction, and concerns regarding efficacy have been extrapolated from other trials. This retrospective study reports the real-world effectiveness and safety of modified CAPIRI-P (mCAPIRI-P). Material and methods: Advanced colorectal cancer patients receiving mCAPIPI-P in the first-line setting between July 2019 and December 2021 were analyzed. The progression-free survival on treatment (PFSOT) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the association with clinical and disease factors was analyzed using the Cox regression model. Serial changes in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level and treatment toxicity were also evaluated. Results: A total of 106 patients were included, of whom 97 (92%) and 31 (29%) had left-sided primary and unresectable liver-only disease, respectively. The median PFSOT and OS were 15.4 (95% CI 12.5-18.3) and 25.5 (95% CI 17.6-33.4) months, respectively. Sixteen (51.6%) and 10 (32.3%) liver-only disease patients underwent secondary liver treatment and R0 resection, respectively. In multivariable Cox regression, CEA responders (PFSOT: HR 0.53) and CEA normalization (PFSOT: HR 0.27; OS: HR 0.28) were independent favorable prognostic factors for PFSOT and OS. Grade ≥3 toxicity rate was 43%, mainly related to uncomplicated hematological toxicities. Conclusion: The real-world data show that mCAPIRI-P is safe and effective as the first-line treatment regimen for RAS wild-type advanced colorectal cancer and warrants further study.

Incident Cardiovascular Diseases Among Survivors of High-Risk Stage II-III Colorectal Cancer: A Cluster-Wide Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The incidence and survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) are increasing. There is an increasing number of long-term survivors, many of whom are elderly and have comorbidities. We conducted a population-based study in Hong Kong to assess the long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence associated with adjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy among CRC survivors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the population-based electronic medical database of Hong Kong, we identified adults who were diagnosed with high-risk stage II-III CRC and treated with radical surgery followed by adjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy between 2010 and 2019. We evaluated the cause-specific cumulative incidence of CVD (including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and stroke) using the flexible parametric competing risk modeling framework. The control group without a history of CVD was selected from among a noncancer random sample from primary care clinics in the same geographic area. RESULTS: We analyzed 1,037 treated patients with CRC and 5,078 noncancer controls. The adjusted cause-specific hazard ratio (HR) for CVD in the cancer cohort compared with the control group was 2.11 (95% CI, 1.39-3.20). The 1-, 5-, and 10-year cause-specific cumulative incidences were 2.0%, 4.5%, and 5.4% in the cancer cohort versus 1.2%, 3.0%, and 3.8% in the control group, respectively. Age at cancer diagnosis (HR per 5-year increase, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08-1.24), male sex (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.06-1.86), comorbidity (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.36-2.61 for 1 comorbidity vs none, and HR, 6.61; 95% CI, 4.55-9.60 for ≥2 comorbidities vs none), diabetes (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.04-1.84), hypertension (HR, 3.27; 95% CI, 2.39-4.50), and dyslipidemia/hyperlipidemia (HR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.68-3.81) were associated with incident CVD. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to adjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy was associated with an increased risk of CVD among survivors of high-risk stage II-III CRC. Cardiovascular risk monitoring of this group throughout cancer survivorship is advisable.

Potential cost-effectiveness of adjuvanted herpes zoster subunit vaccine for older adults in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: Adjuvanted herpes zoster (HZ) subunit vaccine is recommended for adults aged ≥50 years. This study aimed to investigate cost-effectiveness of HZ subunit vaccine for older adults at different age in Hong Kong. METHODS: A life-long Markov model was designed to simulate outcomes of four alternatives: Vaccination at model entry (age 50 years); deferring vaccination to 60 years; deferring vaccination to 70 years; and no vaccination. Outcome measures included direct cost, indirect cost, HZ and post-herpetic neuralgia incidences, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) loss, and incremental cost per QALY saved (ICER). Model clinical inputs were derived from literature. HZ treatment costs were collected from a cohort of HZ patients (n = 218). One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: In base-case analysis, vaccination at 50 years showed highest QALYs saved and increment cost (0.00258; USD166), followed by deferring to 60 years (0.00215 QALYs saved; USD102) and deferring to 70 years (0.00134 QALYs; USD62) when comparing to no vaccination. ICERs of vaccination arms versus no vaccine (46,267-64,341 USD/QALY) were between 1-3 × gross domestic product (GPD) per capita in Hong Kong (USD43,530-USD130,590). One-way sensitivity analyses found vaccine cost to be the common and most influential parameter for ICER of each vaccination strategy to become <1 × GDP per capita. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, vaccination at 50 years, deferring to 60 years and 70 years were accepted as cost-effective in 90% of time at willingness-to-pay (WTP) of 78,400 USD/QALY, 57,680 USD/QALY and 53,760 USD/QALY, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cost-effectiveness of each strategy is highly subject to the vaccine cost and WTP threshold per QALY saved.