A clinical trial with biweekly regimen of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs). A Promising antitumor activity in patients with metastatic STS has been reported with gemcitabine alone or in combination with taxanes including docetaxel and paclitaxel in pre-treated patients. Nab-paclitaxel is a 130-nm albumin-bound formulation of paclitaxel particles (Celgene, Summit, NJ) which was designed to eliminate the toxicities associated with Cremophor®-EL. Nab-paclitaxel at equal dose of paclitaxel showed increased antitumor activity, enhanced endothelial cell transport and 33% higher intra-tumor paclitaxel concentration in preclinical models of solid tumor xenografts promising an advantageous pharmacokinetic profile In sarcoma, nab-paclitaxel demonstrated preclinical anti-tumor activity in rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft model. Local relapsed tumors following paclitaxel treatment proved to be paclitaxel-resistant but remained responsive to nab-paclitaxel. These findings provide the rationale for further evaluation of nab-paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine for soft tissue sarcoma treatment.
Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) account for 1% of all human cancers and consist of at least 50 different histological subtypes which have different clinical behavior and response to chemotherapy. Patients with advanced disease (locally advanced or metastatic) have a somber prognosis with a median OS between 12 and 15 months. Palliative chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment in the metastatic setting, although in a small subset with limited metastases local treatment may be curative. First-line treatment for advanced soft-tissue sarcoma includes doxorubicin hydrochloride, alone or in combination with other chemotherapy agents (e.g., ifosfamide), or olaratumab. Beyond first line several agents have shown activity, including gemcitabine/docetaxel, trabectedin and pazopanib, though no standard regimen has been established. Promising antitumor activity in patients with metastatic STS has been reported with gemcitabine alone or in combination with taxanes including docetaxel and paclitaxel in pre-treated patients. Nab-paclitaxel is a 130-nm albumin-bound formulation of paclitaxel particles (Abraxane®, Celgene, Summit, NJ) which was designed to eliminate the toxicities associated with Cremophor EL®. Nab-paclitaxel at equal dose of paclitaxel showed increased antitumor activity, enhanced endothelial cell transport and 33% higher intra-tumor paclitaxel concentration in preclinical models of solid tumor xenografts promising an advantageous pharmacokinetic profile In sarcoma, nab-paclitaxel demonstrated preclinical antitumor activity in rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft model. Local relapsed tumors following paclitaxel treatment proved to be paclitaxel-resistant but remained responsive to nab-paclitaxel. These findings provide the rationale for further evaluation of nab-paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine for soft tissue sarcoma treatment. Phase Ib objective: * To assess the safety and feasibility of combining nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine Phase II objective: * To determine whether or not gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel regimen exhibits antitumor activity that is worth testing further in STS.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
39
150 mg/m2 / 125 mg/m2
1000 mg/m2
Universitaetsspital Basel
Basel, Switzerland
Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana
Bellinzona, Switzerland
Inselspital, Bern
Bern, Switzerland
Kantonsspital Graubünden
Chur, Switzerland
Hopital Cantonal Universitaire de Geneve
Geneva, Switzerland
CHUV - Swiss Cancer Center Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland
Kantonsspital St. Gallen
Sankt Gallen, Switzerland
UniversitätsSpital Zürich
Zurich, Switzerland
Phase I: Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT)
DLT is defined as any of the following adverse events (AEs) occurring during the first cycle of treatment and regarded by the investigators and/or the Sponsor to be related to nab-paclitaxel and/or gemcitabine (AEs not related to the IMPs are not regarded as DLT)
Time frame: during the first cycle of treatment (28 days)
Phase II: Progression-free rate (PFR)
PFR at 12 weeks after registration determined by the percentage of progression-free patients at 12 weeks. Progression is defined as one of the following events (whichever occurs first): * Progressive disease (PD) assessed according to the RECIST v1.1 before week 13 (allowed is a 1 week delay in the tumor assessment at week 12). * Death due to any cause up to week 12. * Start of second line treatment before week 12. * No tumor assessment after week 11 without subsequent treatment which shows stabilization or response.
Time frame: at 12 weeks after registration
Phase I: PFR 12 weeks
Time frame: at 12 weeks after registration
Phase I: Best response assessed according to RECIST v1.1
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase I: Adverse events (AEs), assessed according to NCI CTCAE v4.03
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase II: Progression-free survival (PFS)
PFS defined as the time from registration until progression according to RECIST v1.1 or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Patients without an event at the time of analysis and patients starting a new anticancer therapy in the absence of an event will be censored at the date of the last tumor assessment before the start of the new therapy, if any.
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase II: Overall Survival (OS)
OS defined as the time from registration until death from any cause. Patients without an event at the time of analysis will be censored at the date they were last known to be alive.
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase II: Best response assessed according to RECIST v1.1
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase II: AEs, assessed according to NCI CTCAE v4.03
Time frame: from registration until 28 days after administration of the last dose of trial treatment
Phase II: Symptom-related quality of life assessed by questionnaires
Symptom-related quality of life will be assessed with the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), which measures the severity of 13 cancer-related symptoms and their impact on six dimensions of daily life at their worst in the last 24 hours on a 0-10 numerical rating scale, with 0 being "not present" and 10 being "as bad as you can imagine."
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
Phase II: Nab-paclitaxel related sensory neuropathy assessed by questionnaires
To address an important side-effect of nab-paclitaxel, sensory neuropathy will be assessed by the 4-item subscale of the FACT/GOG-Ntx (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group-Neurotoxicity), which measures the severity of sensory neuropathy in the last 7 days on a 0-4 numerical rating scale, with 0 being "not at all" and 4 being "very much."
Time frame: assessed for up to 5 years after patient registration
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