Study to Evaluate Palifermin in the Reduction of Dysphagia in Patients With Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Sobi

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Dysphagia; Lung Cancer; Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Treatments: Radiation: Radiotherapy; Drug: Paclitaxel; Drug: Placebo; Drug: Palifermin; Drug: Carboplatin

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Industry

Identifiers

NCT00094861

20030185

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine if palifermin will reduce the incidence of dysphagia in patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy for treatment of unresectable stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).

Full description

During the acute dysphagia evaluation phase (the period lasting from the administration of the first dose of investigational product through Week 12 (or up to Week 16 if dysphagia is not resolved to CTCAE v3.0 grade ≤ 1 by Week 12) participants underwent acute dysphagia assessments twice weekly. All participants were followed for disease progression, second primary tumors, other malignancies, and overall survival until death or loss to follow-up during the long term follow-up (still ongoing).

Enrollment: 100 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with a histologically or cytologically proven diagnosis of NSCLC
• Unresectable (locally advanced) stage IIIa or IIIb disease
• Initial radiotherapy field of treatment to encompass greater than or equal to 30% of the esophagus
• Life expectancy greater than or equal to 6 months
• Estimated weight loss less than or equal to 10% in the 3 months before study randomization
• Measurable disease
• 18 years of age or older
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 - 2
• Hemoglobin (hgb) greater than or equal to 10 g/dL without transfusional support or growth factor use in the 4 weeks before study randomization
• Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) greater than or equal to 1.5 x 10^9/L without growth factor use in the 2 weeks before study randomization
• Platelet count greater than or equal to 100 x 10^9/L
• Serum bilirubin less than or equal to 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Serum creatinine less than or equal to 2.0 mg/dL (Note: Patients with a serum creatinine greater than or equal to 1.4 and less than or equal to 2.0 mg/dL must demonstrate a 24-hour urinary creatinine clearance greater than or equal to 50 mL/min)
• Females of childbearing potential: negative serum or urine pregnancy test
• Patient must give written informed consent before participating in any study-specific procedure, randomization, or receiving investigational product.
• Patients with reproductive capability must agree to practice adequate contraception methods.

Exclusion criteria

• Metastatic disease (M1)/stage 4 NSCLC
• Pleural or pericardial effusion greater than 100 ml in volume as documented by appropriate imaging (positron emission tomography [PET], computed tomography [CT] scan or ultrasound). If an effusion greater than 100 ml is documented by cytology to be free from malignancy and the investigator feels the patient is capable of receiving chemo/radiotherapy for their primary disease/ NSCLC, the investigator should discuss the patient with the study physician at Amgen. Effusions smaller than 100 ml would be acceptable, unless the investigator suspects that the effusion is malignant, in which case the effusions should be evaluated by cytology. Sponsor approval must be obtained before patient is randomized.
• Plan to remove the tumor surgically before completing the protocol chemo/radiotherapy course
• Shielding of any part of the esophagus during radiotherapy (including posterior spinal cord shielding)
• Prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery for NSCLC
• Prior invasive malignancy during the past 3 years other than non-melanomatous skin cancer. Note: Patients with prior surgically-cured malignancies [eg, stage I breast cancer or prostate cancer, in-situ carcinoma of the cervix, etc] are not excluded; however, sponsor approval must be obtained before patient is randomized.
• Presence or history of dysphagia or conditions predisposing to dysphagia (eg, uncontrolled gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD], dyspepsia, etc)
• History of pancreatitis
• Four weeks or less since completion of treatment using an investigational product/device in another clinical study or presence of any unresolved toxicity from previous treatment
• Previous treatment on this study or with a fibroblast growth factor
• Known to be sero-positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), or hepatitis B virus (HBV)
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women
• Known sensitivity to E. coli derived products
• Compromised ability of the patient to give written informed consent and/or to comply with study procedures
• Refusal to sign an informed consent form to participate in this study, and sign the hospital information release form, if applicable
• Unwilling or unable to complete the patient reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires
• Psychological, social, familial, or geographical reasons that would prevent regular follow-up

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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100 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants received a single intravenous (IV) dose of placebo administered 3 days before the initiation of concurrent chemo/radiotherapy, then once weekly during Weeks 1 through 6, typically for a total of 7 doses. Concurrent radio/chemotherapy was given as follows: * standard radiotherapy 2 Gy once daily x 30 to 33 fractions (6 to 7 weeks) for a total target dose of 60 to 66 Gy * paclitaxel 50 mg/m\^2 intravenous (IV) infusion on Days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36 (and day 43 for those receiving 66 Gy) * carboplatin dosed at an area under the curve (AUC) 2.0 IV on Days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36 (and day 43 for those receiving 66 Gy). Participants subsequently received two 21-day cycles of consolidation chemotherapy with paclitaxel 225 mg/m\^2 and carboplatin dosed at AUC 6.0.

Treatment:

Drug: Placebo

Radiation: Radiotherapy

Drug: Paclitaxel

Drug: Carboplatin

Palifermin

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received a single IV dose of palifermin at 180 μg/kg administered 3 days before the initiation of concurrent chemo/radiotherapy, then once weekly during Weeks 1 through 6, typically for a total of 7 doses. Concurrent radio/chemotherapy (administered for 6 to 7 weeks) was given as follows: * standard radiotherapy 2 Gy once daily x 30 to 33 fractions (6 to 7 weeks) for a total target dose of 60 to 66 Gy * paclitaxel 50 mg/m\^2 IV infusion on Days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36 (and day 43 for those receiving 66 Gy) * carboplatin dosed at an area under the curve (AUC) 2.0 IV on Days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36 (and day 43 for those receiving 66 Gy). Participants subsequently received two 21-day cycles of consolidation chemotherapy with paclitaxel 225 mg/m\^2 and carboplatin dosed at AUC 6.0.

Treatment:

Radiation: Radiotherapy

Drug: Paclitaxel

Drug: Palifermin

Drug: Carboplatin