Incidence, severity and factors associated with diarrhoea in phase I oncology studies: experience of 1002 consecutive cases

2568Background: Diarrhea is a common toxicity related to cancer treatment. Diarrhea occurs at different degrees of severity both within and outside the dose limiting toxicity window, influencing the dose and schedule of novel anticancer drugs. We aimed to assess the incidence, severity and factors predisposing to diarrhea in patients (pts) enrolled in phase I studies. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 1002 separate phase I trial pt-cases treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital Drug Development Unit between January 2010 and December 2014. Data were collected from our electronic records for consecutive pts participating in 80 different phase I trials. Results: The incidence of diarrhea was 32.1%. Grade 1-5 diarrhea was reported in 21.9%, 6.3%, 3.1%, 0.1% and 0.1% pt-cases respectively. 69.5% episodes of diarrhea were reported as drug related. 5.6% of pts had a specific trial intervention due to diarrhea such as dose interruption or withdrawal from study. Time on study was not significantly different i...