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Purpose: Lapatinib is an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of both epidermal growth factor receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). This study is designed to test whether the addition of lapatinib to paclitaxel improves overall survival (OS) compared with placebo plus paclitaxel in patients with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC)., Patients and Methods: This phase III, randomized, double-blind study assessed the efficacy and safety of lapatinib plus paclitaxel compared with placebo plus paclitaxel in patients with newly diagnosed HER2-positive MBC. The primary end point was OS. Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate, and safety., Results: The addition of lapatinib to paclitaxel significantly improved OS versus paclitaxel (treatment hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.94; P = .0124); median OS was 27.8 versus 20.5 months, respectively. Median PFS was prolonged by 3.2 months, from 6.5 months with placebo plus paclitaxel to 9.7 months with lapatinib plus paclitaxel (HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.64; stratified log-rank P < .001). ORR was significantly higher with lapatinib plus paclitaxel compared with placebo plus paclitaxel (69% v 50%, respectively; P < .001). The incidence of grades 3 and 4 diarrhea and neutropenia was higher in the lapatinib plus paclitaxel arm. Only 4% of patients in this group reported febrile neutropenia. Cardiac events were low grade, asymptomatic, and mostly reversible. The incidence of hepatic events was similar in both arms. There were no fatal adverse events in the lapatinib plus paclitaxel arm., Conclusion: This trial demonstrated that lapatinib combined with paclitaxel offers a significant and clinically meaningful survival advantage over paclitaxel alone in patients with HER2-positive MBC.

Background and Objective: The Expand Access Program (EAP) of Iressa(gefitinib, ZD1839) in China was initiated in 2001 with the aim of providing gefitinib to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who failed to respond to standard treatment or who could not tolerate chemotherapy. The primary objective was to describe the quality of life (QoL), tumor control status, drug safety, and clinical/genomic features of active long-term survivors enrolled in the EAP. The secondary objective was to determine the clinical characteristics of long-term survivors in the EAP program., Methods: In this descriptive observational study, data were collected based on epidemiological research methods. The data of patients who were actively participating in the EAP and still undergoing gefitinib treatment were collected in a cross-sectional manner to reflect the current status of each patient. Meanwhile, the data of patients who had been on gefitinib treatment for more than three years and had already been terminated from the EAP or those who were fast progressors were collected retrospectively., Results: A total of 934 patients were screened in the EAP database. Among these patients, 25 were active long-term survivors still enrolled in the EAP and 34 were long-term survivors who had been terminated from the program. These 59 patients were enrolled in 15 different centers in China, and the remaining 875 patients were fast progressors. The median scores for the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L), Trial Outcome Index (TOI), and Lung Cancer Subscale (LCS) of the 25 long-term survivors were 64.5, 37 and 12.5, respectively. The performance status 0-1 accounted for 91.6% of the data observed during the cross-sectional survey. For active long-term survivors, the objective response rate was 37.5%, the disease control rate was 87.5%, and the median duration of response time was almost 68 months. In the long-term survivor group, no serious and new adverse events were reported. Patients who were aged under 65 years (68.5%), affected with adenocarcinoma (81.4%), female (55.9%), or had never smoked (71%) accounted for majority of the long-term survivors. The percentage of females was significantly higher in the long-term survivor group than in the fast progressor group (P=0.02). Three tissue samples were collected from each of the 24 active long-term survivors, and one patient was found to be positive of EGFR mutation. Twenty-two blood samples were also collected, and one patient tested positive for EGFR mutation. The Ki67 protein expression was also tested in three tissue samples, and two of these were found positive for Ki67 protein expression, with a response duration time of over 73 months., Conclusions: A 250 mg dose of gefitinib offers good QoL and is safe for advanced NSCLC long-term survivors even after more than three years of treatment. According to the evaluation of the current tumor control statuses of patients, gefitinib demonstrates good efficacy in these active long-term survivors.

Background: Vandetanib (ZD6474) is an orally available inhibitor of 3 signaling pathways important in tumor progression: vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor, and rearranged during transfection tyrosine kinase activity. Current development of vandetanib is focused on the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer and other tumor types, including thyroid cancer. This study was conducted as a requirement for regulatory submission for vandetanib in China., Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics of vandetanib in Chinese patients with advanced, solid, malignant tumors and to compare these with data obtained in Japanese and Western populations., Methods: Phase I consisted of a nonrandomized, open-label, single-center study conducted in Guangzhou, China. Adult patients (12 per treatment) who had tumors refractory to standard treatments or for whom no appropriate therapies existed received oral vandetanib (100 mg every other day, 100 mg once daily, or 300 mg once daily) until disease progression or discontinuation in the study. The initial cohort was dosed at 100 mg every other day. Once at least 3 patients had received this dose of vandetanib for 28 days without experiencing dose-limiting toxicity, a second cohort at 100 mg once daily was started. Following the same criteria, the third cohort received 300 mg once daily. Pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and tumor response were assessed. The pharmacokinetics of vandetanib in Chinese, Western, and Japanese patients were compared through a combined population pharmacokinetic model. Tolerability was assessed by recording adverse events and monitoring physical examination, body weight, performance status, vital signs, urinalysis, biochemistry, hematology, and 12-lead electrocardiogram., Results: Thirty-six patients were enrolled (age range 21-82 years, 56% male, body mass index range 17.6-33.0 kg/m(2)). Thirty-three of 36 patients (92%) were World Health Organization performance status 0-1. Vandetanib pharmacokinetics were linear over the dose range studied with AUC(ss) for the 300 mg once daily group (38611 ng/h/mL) being 3.6-fold higher than that for the 100 mg once daily group (10826 ng/h/mL). Absorption was relatively slow following a single 100- or 300-mg dose, with T(max) ranging from 2 to 10 hours. Interpatient variability in C(max SS) and AUC(SS) was relatively high, with the coefficient of variation ranging from 29.1% to 40.6%. Vandetanib plasma clearance was slow (7.8-9.2 L/h) and was independent of dose. The most common drug-related adverse events were rash (42%) and diarrhea (39%). No QT(C) prolongation was observed. Hypertension was reported as an adverse event in 3 patients. There were no clinically relevant changes in hematology, urinalysis, or World Health Organization performance status. Elevation of alanine aminotransferase was reported as an adverse event in 1 patient. One patient with medullary thyroid cancer showed a partial tumor response. Population pharmacokinetic analysis suggests that vandetanib pharmacokinetics appear to be comparable in Chinese, Western, and Japanese patients., Conclusions: The pharmacokinetic properties of vandetanib in these Chinese patients were characterized by low plasma clearance of approximately 8 L/h, a long half-life of approximately 8 to 10 days, and an accumulation of approximately 8-fold to 15-fold on multiple dosing. In these Chinese patients, the pharmacokinetic profile of vandetanib appeared to be comparable with that observed in Japanese and Western populations. Oral doses up to 300 mg once daily appeared to be well tolerated., (Copyright © 2011. Published by EM Inc USA.)