Optimizing clinical research procedures in public health emergencies.

Public Health Emergencies of International Concern, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, have a devastating impact on an individual and societal level, and there is an urgent need to learn, understand and bridge the therapeutic gap at a time of extreme stress on the patient, health care systems and staff. Well-designed, controlled clinical trials play a crucial role in the discovery of novel diagnostic and management strategies; however, these catastrophic circumstances pose unique challenges in initiating research studies at institutional, national, and international levels, highlighting the importance of a coordinated, collaborative approach. This review discusses key elements necessary to consider for developing clinical trials within a Public Health Emergency setting.

Evaluation of adverse events experienced by older patients participating in studies of molecularly targeted agents alone or in combination.

BACKGROUND: The tolerability of molecularly targeted agents in older patients has not been specifically examined. Adverse event data from clinical trials in the Princess Margaret Hospital Phase II Consortium database were analyzed to address this question. METHODS: The Consortium database collects trial information on all patients treated with either a molecularly targeted agent alone or in combination since 2001. The frequency of adverse events was determined and analyzed by two different age groups, <65 years and >/=65 years. Toxicity indices (TI) and frequencies of dose-limiting toxicities (DLT), based on adverse events of all causalities (TI(ALL) and DLT(ALL)), and on adverse events that were at least possibly related to the molecularly targeted agent (TI(MTA) and DLT(MTA)), were calculated for both age groups. RESULTS: Four hundred and one patients who received 1,252 treatment cycles were analyzed from 19 different studies. Baseline performance status was similar between both age groups, but fewer older patients have had multiple prior regimens of chemotherapy or prior radiation therapy. A comparison of the proportions of younger and older patients experiencing DLT(ALL) and DLT(MTA) showed similar results. The TI(MTA) values were comparable between the two age groups in both single agent (3.25 versus 3.00, for <65 versus >/=65 years) and multi-agent (3.65 versus 3.00, for <65 versus >/=65 years) trials. CONCLUSIONS: Older patients seem to tolerate molecularly targeted therapies either alone or in combination with chemotherapy as well as younger patients. Age alone should not be a barrier in the administration of targeted agents.

A phase II study of PS-341 (Bortezomib) in advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. A trial of the Princess Margaret Hospital and University of Chicago phase II consortia.

BACKGROUND: Based on evidence of activity in epithelial tumors in preclinical and Phase I studies, its novel mechanism of action, and its tolerability we undertook a study of bortezomib [PS-341], a reversible proteasome inhibitor, for patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced or metastatic unresectable urothelial carcinoma were enrolled onto this multicenter, phase II trial. Patients with measurable disease were treated with bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2/day (twice weekly for 2 weeks out of 3) by intravenous infusion on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 every 21 days. A two stage phase II design was used. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were enrolled and twenty were eligible and received treatment. Eighty-five percent of patients had previous chemotherapy regimens. No objective responses were observed, median time-to-progression was 8.1 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.4 to 9), and median overall survival is estimated to be 15 weeks (95% CI 3.6 - NA). A total of 15 patients experienced a grade 3-4 adverse event. The most common were alkaline phosphatase (20% patients), lymphopenia (20% patients), myalgia (15% patients), dyspnea (15% patients) and thrombosis/embolism (15% patients). CONCLUSION: Single-agent bortezomib is an ineffective treatment for progressive-cisplatin-refractory urothelial carcinoma and should not be considered for future clinical trials in this population of patients.