The current Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) trial will compare two schedules(12- vs. 4-weekly) of bone-targeting agents (BTAs) to evaluate quality of life, pain and skeletal events within the Canadian Health Care System. This study will use an "integrated consent model" that involves "oral consent" rather than a written informed consent writing process as the study is comparing standard schedules and not a new administration schedule.
Bone metastases are common in patients with advanced breast and prostate cancers. Skeletal metastases can be associated with reduced Quality of Life (QoL), pain and skeletal-related events (SREs) (defined as pathological fractures, surgery/radiotherapy to bone, spinal cord compression and hypercalcaemia). Maintaining QoL while avoiding or delaying SREs are the main goals of therapy. Patients therefore receive bone-targeted agents (e.g. pamidronate, zoledronate and denosumab) which are typically given every 4 weeks. However, this 4 week dosing is based on convenience so the treatment could be given concurrently with chemotherapy. The half-life of these drugs in the bone is many months or even years. Hence studies have been performed evaluating 12-weekly therapy. These have confirmed similar palliative outcomes in the 4 vs 12-weekly groups for both breast and prostate cancer patients. However, there remains clinical equipoise about which dosing interval physicians prescribe. The current trial will compare these two schedules of bone-targeting agents (12- vs. 4-weekly) to evaluate quality of life, pain and skeletal events within the Canadian Health Care System. This study will use an "integrated consent model" that involves "oral consent" rather than a written informed consent writing process as the study is comparing standard schedules and not a new administration schedule.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
263
Bone-targeted agent as standard of care
Bone-targeted agent as standard of care
Bone-targeted agent as standard of care
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Health related quality of life scores measured with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 Functional Domain (Physical Subdomain)
Units on a scale
Time frame: 1 year
Pain will be measured through the EORTC-Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-BM22 (pain domain)
Units on a scale
Time frame: 1 year
Health related quality of life scores
Units on a scale
Time frame: 1 year
Time to development of symptomatic skeletal events (SSEs)
SSEs defined from the date of randomization until the first date a patient experiences an SSE (an on-study SSE is defined as: use of radiotherapy to relieve skeletal symptoms, new symptomatic pathological bone fractures (vertebral or non-vertebral), spinal cord compression, tumour related orthopedic surgical intervention, hypercalcaemia). Any patient who does not experience a SSE will be censored on the last date the patient can be confirmed as SSE-free. Multiple measurements will be aggregated to arrive at one reported value.
Time frame: 2 year
Total number of and time to subsequent on study SSE - to calculate Skeletal Morbidity Rates
Multiple measurements will be aggregated to arrive at one reported value.
Time frame: 2 year
For sites where Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scores (ESAS) are performed as standard of care, the ESAS scores will also be collected.
Units on a scale
Time frame: 2 year
Adverse events/ toxicity profiles will be compared between the two different approaches.
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Time frame: 2 year
An economic analysis on Health Services Issues
We will perform a cost utility analysis alongside this pragmatic randomized controlled trial. The cost effectiveness of 4-week compared to 12-week BTA will be assessed in terms of the incremental cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained from the perspective of health care system. Resource use and health utility will be measured from the trial at the follow up interviews. Health utility values would be estimated from the study questionnaires.
Time frame: 1 year