plitidepsin and Skin-Neoplasms

To evaluate the antitumor activity and safety profile of plitidepsin administered as a 1h weekly intravenous (i.v.) infusion of 3.2mg/m(2) to patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who relapsed or progressed after one line of chemotherapy.. This was a multicenter, open-label, single-arm, exploratory, phase II clinical trial. Treatment lasted until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, patient refusal or treatment delay for >2 weeks. Objective response rate (primary efficacy endpoint) was evaluated according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST). The rate of stable disease (SD) lasting for at least 6 months and time-to-event variables were secondary endpoints of efficacy. Toxicity was assessed using National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI-CTC) version 2.0.. Twenty pretreated SCLC patients (median age, 60 years) with extensive (n = 13) or limited-stage disease (n = 7) received a total of 24 treatment cycles (median, one cycle per patient; range, 1-2). Objective tumor responses were not observed and only one of the 17 evaluable patients had SD. With a median follow-up of 11.8 months, the progression-free survival and the median overall survival were 1.3 months and 4.8 months, respectively. The most troubling or common toxicities were fatigue, muscle weakness, lymphopenia, anemia (no patients showed neutropenia), and asymptomatic, non-cumulative increase of transaminases levels and alkaline phosphatase.. This clinical trial shows that a cycle of 1h weekly i.v. infusion of plitidepsin (3.2mg/m(2)) was generally well tolerated other than fatigue and muscle weakness in patients with pretreated SCLC. One patient died due to multi-organ failure. The absence of antitumor activity found here precludes further studies of this plitidepsin schedule as second-line single-agent treatment of SCLC.

Topics: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms; Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Agents; Bone Neoplasms; Depsipeptides; Female; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Liver Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Maximum Tolerated Dose; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Peptides, Cyclic; Prognosis; Salvage Therapy; Skin Neoplasms; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antitumor activity and safety profile of 5 mg/m2 plitidepsin administered as a 3-h continuous intravenous infusion every 2 weeks to patients with advanced malignant melanoma who relapsed or progressed after one line of systemic therapy. Objective response rate (primary efficacy endpoint) was evaluated according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors and toxicity was assessed using National Cancer Institute -Common Toxicity Criteria Version 2.0. Of 39 enrolled patients (median age: 53 years), 37 patients were treated who received a total of 167 treatment cycles (median: 3 cycles per patient; range: 1-32). All patients had received prior systemic therapy with a median of one line per patient (range: 1-6 lines). Of the 35 evaluable patients, two dacarbazine-resistant patients (5.7%) with metastatic cutaneous melanoma achieved partial responses. Five other patients (14.3%) reported stable disease (median stable disease duration: 3.5 months; range: 2.2-15.8 months). Therefore, the rate of tumor growth control was 20.0%. With a median follow-up of 11.0 months, the median progression-free survival was 1.3 months and the median overall survival was 3.5 months. Six patients (16.2%) had the following treatment-related grade 3/4 adverse events: myalgia (n = 3), injection-site reaction (n = 2), hypersensitivity, hypotension, and fatigue (n = 1 each). One patient was withdrawn from the trial because of grade 4 hypersensitivity reaction and hypotension. No severe neutropenia was reported. Plitidepsin showed a minor degree of antitumor activity in patients with refractory advanced malignant melanoma. Further evaluation of plitidepsin in combination schedules may be warranted.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Depsipeptides; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Male; Melanoma; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Peptides, Cyclic; Skin Neoplasms