Maintenance Pazopanib Provides PFS, not OS, Benefit in Small-cell Lung Cancer

Pazopanib maintenance therapy prolonged progression-free survival (PFS), but not overall survival (OS), among patients with extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC), according to a study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th Annual World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Japan.¹ 

For this phase 2 study, investigators randomly assigned 95 patients with ED-SCLC to receive pazopanib 800 mg daily or placebo. Patients who had not progressed after 4 cycles of etoposide plus platinum combination chemotherapy were eligible. The primary endpoint was PFS.

Median PFS was 3.7 months vs 1.8 months for patients in the pazopanib vs the placebo arm, respectively (hazard ratio [HR], 0.44; 95% CI, 0.29-0.69; P < .0001). Nine (18.8%) patients in the pazopanib arm had a PFS longer than 6 months compared with 2 (4.3%) in the placebo arm.

Patients in the pazopanib arm had a median OS of 10.6 months vs 12.9 months for patients in the placebo arm (HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.74-1.76; P = .54).

The most frequently reported grade 3 or worse toxicities experienced by patients receiving pazopanib included thrombocytopenia (10.4%), elevated liver enzyme (10.4%), fatigue (6.3%), and hypertension (6.3%).

The authors concluded that “[g]iven the unneglectable toxicity profiles, relevant biomarkers to select patients for benefit from pazopanib should be further investigated.”

Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of the IASLC 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) by visiting the conference page.

Reference

1. Sun JM, Lee KH, Kim B, et al. Pazopanib maintenance for extensive disease small cell lung cancer: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase II study (KCSG-LU12-07). Presented at: International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 18^th World Conference on Lung Cancer; October 2017; Yokohama, Japan. Abstract OA 08.07.