Citations

467 Background: Regorafenib (REG) is an oral multikinase inhibitor that has recently demonstrated significant overall survival benefit vs placebo in the randomized phase III CORRECT study. We examined the time course of adverse events (AEs) in the CORRECT study. Methods: Regorafenib (REG) is an oral multikinase inhibitor that has recently demonstrated significant overall survival benefit vs placebo in the randomized phase III CORRECT study. We examined the time course of adverse events (AEs) in the CORRECT study. Results: The safety population comprised 753 patients (pts): REG n=500; placebo n=253. The mean treatment duration was 12.1 ± 9.7 weeks in the REG group and 7.8 ± 5.2 weeks in the placebo group. Treatment-emergent AEs occurred at any grade in 99.6% of REG pts and 96.8% of placebo pts, at grade 1/2 in 21.6% and 47.8%, respectively, at grade 3 in 56.0% and 26.5%, respectively, and at grade 4/5 in 22.0% and 22.5%, respectively. AEs occurring in ≥10% more REG than placebo pts were fatigue, hand–foot skin reaction (HFSR), anorexia, diarrhea, weight loss, voice changes, hypertension, rash/desquamation, oral mucositis, fever, hyperbilirubinemia, low platelet count. The most frequent AEs deemed to be regorafenib related were HFSR, fatigue, diarrhea, hypertension, and rash/desquamation. The frequency of these AEs over time is shown in the Table. The incidence of HFSR, fatigue, hypertension, and rash/desquamation peaked in cycle 1 and tapered to a relatively stable lower incidence over later cycles. The incidence of diarrhea remained relatively constant throughout treatment. AEs led to dose modification in 66.6% of pts in the REG group and 22.5% in the placebo group. Data on dose intensity across treatment cycles will be presented. Conclusions: In the CORRECT trial, the incidences of the most common AEs in the REG group peaked early during treatment. There appeared to be no evidence for cumulative toxicity of REG. Clinical trial information: NCT01103323. [Table: see text]

341 Background: Precursors to 1/3 of colorectal cancer (CRC), serrated polyps have historically been underdetected by screening due to their inconspicuous, nonhemorrhagic, and proximal nature. New generation sDNA-MT show high sensitivity for both CRC and advanced adenomas (Gastroenterology 2012;142:248), but screen detection of serrated polyps by this approach requires further validation. Aim: To assess and compare noninvasive detection of sessile serrated polyps >1cm (SSP) by sDNA-MT and a commercial quantitative FIT. Methods: In a blinded prospective study, a single stool sample used for both tests was collected from 456 asymptomatic adults prior to screening or surveillance colonoscopy (criterion standard). All 29 patients with SSP were included as cases and all 232 with no neoplastic findings as controls. Buffered stool samples were processed and frozen on receipt; Exact Sciences performed sDNA-MT in batches using optimized analytical methods (Gastroenterology 2012;142:S770). The sDNA-MT panel targets methylated BMP3 (mBMP3) and NDRG4, mutant KRAS, β-actin, and hemoglobin. FIT (Polymedco OC-FIT Check) was performed in separate lab <2 days post defecation and evaluated at cutoffs of 50 (FIT-50) and 100 ng/ml (FIT-100). Results: Age/sex distributions were similar in cases and controls: 40% vs 45% > 65 years and 51% vs 59% women, p=NS respectively. SSP median size was 1.2cm (range 1-3cm), 93% were proximal, and 64% had synchronous diminutive polyps. Among sDNA-MT markers, mBMP3 proved highly discriminant for SSP detection (AUC=0.87, p<0.00001); other DNA markers were less informative and provided no incremental sensitivity. Hemoglobin alone showed no discrimination (AUC=0.50, p=NS). At matched specificities, SSP detection by stool mBMP3 was significantly greater than by either FIT-50 or FIT-100 (Table). Conclusions: From a screening and surveillance setting, SSP can be detected noninvasively by stool assay of exfoliated DNA markers, especially mBMP3. FIT appears to have no value in SSP detection. [Table: see text]

3 Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes angiogenesis, a mediator of disease progression in cervical cancer. Bevacizumab (B), a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, has shown single-agent activity in pretreated recurrent disease. We aimed to evaluate B in chemotherapy (CTX)-naive recurrent/persistent/metastatic cervical cancer. Methods: Using a 2x2 factorial design, patients were randomly assigned to CTX with or without B 15 mg/kg. The CTX regimens included cisplatin 50 mg/m2 plus paclitaxel 135-175 mg/m2 and topotecan 0.75 mg/m2 d1-3 plus paclitaxel 175 mg/m2d1. Cycles were repeated every 21 days until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or complete response. Overall survival (OS) was the primary endpoint with a reduction in the hazard of death by 30% using anti-VEGF therapy considered important (90% power, 1-sided alpha=2.5%). Final analysis was planned when 346 deaths were observed. Results: 452 patients were accrued from 4/6/09 to 1/3/12. The scheduled interim analysis occurred after 174 patients had died and showed that the topotecan-paclitaxel backbone was not superior to the cisplatin-paclitaxel backbone. A second interim analysis was conducted after 271 deaths. A total of 225 patients received CTX alone and 227 patients received CTX plus B. The randomized treatment groups were similar with regard to age, histology, performance status, previous platinum as a radiosensitizer, and recurrence, persistence, or advanced disease. The B-to-no-B hazard ratio (HR) of death was 0.71 (97.6% CI 0.54-0.95; 1-sided p=0.0035). Median survival was 17 m (CTX plus B) and 13.3 m (CTX alone). The RR were 48% (CTX plus B) and 36% (CTX alone) (p=0.0078). Treatment with B was associated with more grade 3-4 bleeding (5 vs 1%) thrombosis/embolism (9 vs 2%), and GI fistula (3 vs 0%). Conclusions: For the first time a targeted agent significantly improved OS in gynecologic cancer. The second interim analysis crossed the boundary for efficacy, warranting early release of this information. The nearly 4-month increase in median OS with the addition of B to CTX in women with recurrent cervical cancer is considered to be clinically significant. Clinical trial information: NCT00803062.

29 Background: Good communication is crucial to good patient care. Gynecologic oncology providers often face challenging communication scenarios, including giving serious news and discussing goals of care. Communication skills training (CST) has been shown to improve skill acquisition among providers of multiple specialties, but it has not been described in providers from gynecologic oncology or any surgical oncology specialty. Methods: We conducted a two-day CST workshop, based on the VitalTalk© model, with four faculty members (2 gynecologic oncologists and 2 palliative care physicians) and 10 gynecologic oncology provider participants (5 fellows and 5 advanced practice providers). Using didactics, demonstrations and practice sessions with simulated patients we focused on giving serious news and discussing goals of care. Pre and immediate post-workshop surveys evaluated acceptability of the workshop, perceived impact of preparedness to address challenging communication scenarios and anticipated impact on clinical practice. We compared pre and post-workshop prevalence of score of 4 or 5 out of 5 on a Likert scale for preparedness to handle 14 challenging communication scenarios. Results: Participants reported statistically significant increase in preparedness to handle 13 out of 14 challenging communication scenarios. Among those 13 topics, magnitude of improvement in proportion of participants rating preparedness 4 or 5 out of 5 ranged from 40-100% (all p < 0.05). All participants would recommend the course to others and all strongly agreed that this training should be required of all gynecologic oncology clinicians. Conclusions: Participants felt strongly that the workshop provided high quality education relevant to their practice. As a result of the workshop, participants reported statistically significantly increased preparedness to handle challenging communication scenarios. CST is feasible and has high perceived effectiveness for clinicians in the primarily surgical oncologic specialty of gynecologic oncology.

33 Background: Pathologic complete response (pCR) is an important prognostic indicator and surrogate endpoint, particularly for patients with hormone receptor-negative breast cancer. Previous studies have suggested differential response to pre-operative therapy by age and body mass index (BMI), though no association has been seen by race. We assessed associations of age at diagnosis, BMI and race with pCR accounting for breast cancer subtype. Methods: Women enrolled in four clinical trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CALGB 40601 and 40603; ACOSOG Z1031 and Z1041) were eligible for this analysis. Age, race, and BMI were abstracted from patient records at baseline. Tumor subtype was assessed using immunohistochemical staining and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association of race/ethnicity and age at diagnosis with pCR, the absence of residual invasive disease in the breast after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjusting for subtype (HER2+, ER+/ HER2-, triple negative), age, study arm, lymph node status, tumor size, and tumor grade. Results: 1,146 women with a mean age of 51.5 years were included. 156 (13.6%) were of black race. 590 (51.5%) of tumors were HER2+, 169 (14.7%) were ER+/HER2- and 387 (33.8%) were triple negative. In multivariate analyses controlling for tumor characteristics and other factors, black race (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.67-1.70), age (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.97-1.00) and BMI (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.96-1.01) were not significant predictors of pCR. Similar associations we observed when stratified by subtype, and we found no interaction between age and black race (p=0.06), black race and BMI (p=0.54) or age and BMI (p=0.73). Conclusions: After accounting for tumor characteristics, we observed no differences in pCR rates according to race, age or BMI.

PURPOSE: To identify which patients with rhabdomyosarcoma and microscopic residual disease (group II) are likely to not respond to therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six hundred ninety-five patients with group II tumors received chemotherapy and 90% received radiation therapy on Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS)-I to IRS-IV (1972 to 1997). Tumors were subgrouped depending on the presence of microscopic residual disease only (subgroup IIa), resected positive regional lymph nodes, (subgroup IIb), or microscopic residual disease and resected positive regional lymph nodes (subgroup IIc). RESULTS: Overall, the 5-year failure-free survival rate (FFSR) was 73%, and patients with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma treated on IRS-IV fared especially well (5-year FFSR, 93%; n = 90). Five-year FFSRs differed significantly by subgroup (IIa, 75% and n = 506; IIb, 74% and n = 101; IIc, 58% and n = 88; P = .0037) and treatment (IRS-I, 68%; IRS-II, 67%; IRS-III, 75%; IRS-IV, 87%; P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed positive associations between primary site (favorable), histology (embryonal), subgroup IIa or IIb, treatment (IRS-III/IV), and better FFSRs. Patterns of treatment failure revealed local failure to be 8%, regional failure, 4%, and distant failure, 14%. The relapse pattern noted over the course of IRS-I to IRS-IV shows a decrease in the systemic relapse rates, particularly for patients with embryonal histology, suggesting that improvement in FFSRs is primarily a result of improved chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Group II rhabdomyosarcoma has an excellent prognosis with contemporary therapy as used in IRS-III/IV, and those less likely to respond can be identified using prognostic factors: histology, subgroup, and primary site. Patients with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma are generally cured, although patients with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma or undifferentiated sarcoma, particularly subgroup IIc at unfavorable sites, continue to need better therapy.

Purpose Despite increasing awareness of accrual challenges, it is unknown if accrual of older patients to breast cancer treatment trials is improving. Methods We examined accrual of older patients to Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology systemic therapy breast cancer trials during 1985-2012 and compared disease characteristics and reasons for therapy cessation for older (age ≥ 65 years and ≥ 70 years) versus younger (age < 65 years and < 70 years) participants. To examine accrual trends, we modeled age as a function of time, using logistic regression. Results Overall, 17% of study participants were ≥ 65 years of age. Approximately 15%, 24%, and 24% of participants in adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and metastatic trials were age ≥ 65 years, and 7%, 15%, and 13% were age ≥ 70 years, respectively. The odds of a patient age ≥ 65 years enrolling significantly increased over time for adjuvant trials (odds ratio [OR] per year, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.05) but decreased significantly for neoadjuvant and metastatic trials (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.67 and OR, 0.98, 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.00). Similar trends were seen for those age ≥ 70 years but these were statistically significant for adjuvant and neoadjuvant trials only (OR, 1.05, 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.07; and OR, 0.57, 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.62). In general, those age ≥ 65 years ( v those < 65 years) in adjuvant studies had a higher mean number of lymph nodes involved and more hormone receptor-negative tumors, although tumor sizes were similar. Early protocol treatment cessation was also more frequent in those age ≥ 65 years (50%) versus < 65 years (35.9%) across trials. Conclusion Older patients with breast cancer remain largely underrepresented in cooperative group therapeutic trials. We observed some improvement in accrual to adjuvant trials but worsening of accrual for neoadjuvant/metastatic trials. Novel strategies to increase accrual of older patients are critical to meaningfully change the evidence base for this growing patient population.

368 Background: 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) and mitomycin-C (MMC) chemoradiation for anal cancer is associated with high rates of acute morbidity. We have previously shown that dose-painted IMRT (DP-IMRT) significantly reduces grade 3+ GI and dermatologic acute toxicity, as compared to the RTOG 9811 5FU/MMC arm, which used non-conformal radiation techniques. We now report on the two-year outcomes of this DP-IMRT approach. Methods: T2-4N0-3M0 anal canal cancers received 5FU (1,000 mg/m2/day 96 hour infusion) and MMC (10 mg/m2 bolus) days 1 and 29 of DP-IMRT prescribed as follows - T2N0: 42 Gy elective nodal and 50.4 Gy anal tumor planning target volumes (PTVs), 28 fractions; T3-4N0-3: 45 Gy elective nodal, 50.4 Gy ≤ 3 cm and 54 Gy > 3 cm metastatic nodal and 54 Gy anal tumor PTVs, 30 fractions. The following two-year outcomes were assessed: local-regional (LRF) and colostomy failures (CF) using the cumulative incidence method, and disease-free (DFS), overall (OS) and colostomy-free survivals (CFS) using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Of 63 accrued patients, 52 were analyzable. Median age was 58 years; 81% female; 54% stage II; 25% IIIA; 21% IIIB. Median follow-up was 23.2 months (0.2-33). Two-year LRF, CF, DFS and 95% confidence intervals are 20% (9%, 31%), 8% (0.4%, 15%) and 77% (62%, 86%), respectively. The causes of death for the 7 patients that died are: anal cancer in 5, morbidity in one and second primary outside the radiation field in one. Two-year comparison data from the RTOG 9811 5FU/MMC arm are shown in the table below. Conclusions: DP-IMRT with 5FU/MMC for the treatment of anal canal cancer yields similar two-year outcomes as the RTOG 9811 conventional radiation, 5FU/MMC arm. Because of the associated acute toxicity sparing, DP-IMRT will be used as the platform, and may allow for radiation dose escalation, in future RTOG anal canal trials. Supported by RTOG U10 CA21661, CCOP U10 CA3742 and ATC U24 CA 81647 NCI grants. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Purpose To determine the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate in estrogen receptor (ER) –positive primary breast cancer triaged to chemotherapy when the protein encoded by the MKI67 gene (Ki67) level was > 10% after 2 to 4 weeks of neoadjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy. A second objective was to examine risk of relapse using the Ki67-based Preoperative Endocrine Prognostic Index (PEPI). Methods The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z1031A trial enrolled postmenopausal women with stage II or III ER-positive (Allred score, 6 to 8) breast cancer whose treatment was randomly assigned to neoadjuvant AI therapy with anastrozole, exemestane, or letrozole. For the trial ACOSOG Z1031B, the protocol was amended to include a tumor Ki67 determination after 2 to 4 weeks of AI. If the Ki67 was > 10%, patients were switched to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A pCR rate of > 20% was the predefined efficacy threshold. In patients who completed neoadjuvant AI, stratified Cox modeling was used to assess whether time to recurrence differed by PEPI = 0 score (T1 or T2, N0, Ki67 < 2.7%, ER Allred > 2) versus PEPI > 0 disease. Results Only two of the 35 patients in ACOSOG Z1031B who were switched to neoadjuvant chemotherapy experienced a pCR (5.7%; 95% CI, 0.7% to 19.1%). After 5.5 years of median follow-up, four (3.7%) of the 109 patients with a PEPI = 0 score relapsed versus 49 (14.4%) of 341 of patients with PEPI > 0 (recurrence hazard ratio [PEPI = 0 v PEPI > 0], 0.27; P = .014; 95% CI, 0.092 to 0.764). Conclusion Chemotherapy efficacy was lower than expected in ER-positive tumors exhibiting AI-resistant proliferation. The optimal therapy for these patients should be further investigated. For patients with PEPI = 0 disease, the relapse risk over 5 years was only 3.6% without chemotherapy, supporting the study of adjuvant endocrine monotherapy in this group. These Ki67 and PEPI triage approaches are being definitively studied in the ALTERNATE trial (Alternate Approaches for Clinical Stage II or III Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Neoadjuvant Treatment in Postmenopausal Women: A Phase III Study; clinical trial information: NCT01953588).