Phase III Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Thalidomide in
Extensive-Disease Small-Cell Lung Cancer After Response to
Chemotherapy: An Intergroup Study FNCLCC cleo04–IFCT 00-01
Jean Louis Pujol,
Jean Luc Breton,
Radj Gervais,
Marie-Laure Tanguy,
Elisabeth Quoix,
Philippe David,
Henri Janicot,
Virginie Westeel,
Sabine Gameroff,
Jean Genève,
Dominique Maraninchi
From the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Montpellier; Hôpital de
Belfort, Belfort; Centre Régional de Lutte Contre le Cancer, François
Baclesse, Caen; Service de Biostatistique et d'Information Médicale,
Hôpital la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de
Paris; Hôpital du Kremlin Bicêtre, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de
Paris; Bureau des Études Cliniques et Thérapeutiques, Fédération
Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer, Paris; Hôpital
Universitaire de Strasbourg, Strasbourg; Hôpital Universitaire de
Clermont Ferrand, Clermont Ferrand; Hôpital Universitaire de Besançon,
Besançon; and Institut Contre le Cancer Paoli Calmette, Marseille,
France
Address reprint requests to Jean Louis Pujol, MD, PhD,
Hôpital Universitaire Arnaud de Villeneuve, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5,
France; e-mail: jl-pujol@chu-montpellier.fr
Purpose: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III
study aimed to determine whether thalidomide prolongs survival
of patients with extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Patients and Methods: One hundred nineteen patients received two courses of etoposide,
cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, and 4'-epidoxorubicin (PCDE). Responder
patients who had recovered from chemotherapy toxicity were randomly
assigned to receive four additional PCDE cycles plus thalidomide
(400 mg daily) or placebo.
Results: After the first two PCDE cycles, objective response rate was
81.5%, and 92 patients were randomly assigned to placebo (n
= 43) or thalidomide (n = 49). Median exposure duration to placebo
was 4.5 months, and median exposure to thalidomide was 4.9 months.
Patients treated with thalidomide had a longer survival compared
with patients who received placebo, although the difference
was not statistically significant (minimal follow-up, 3 years;
median survival time, 11.7 v 8.7 months, respectively; log-rank
test: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.12; P = .16).
Patients with a performance status (PS) of 1 or 2 who received
thalidomide had a significantly longer survival (HR = 0.59;
95% CI, 0.37 to 0.92; P = .02). The disease also progressed
slower in patients with PS of 1 or 2 receiving thalidomide (HR
= 0.54; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.87; P = .02), whereas the difference
did not reach statistical significance for the whole population
(HR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.12; P = .15). Neuropathy occurred
more frequently in the thalidomide group compared with the placebo
group (33% v 12%, respectively).
Conclusion: Treatment with thalidomide was not associated with a significant
improvement in survival of SCLC patients. There was pronounced
heterogeneity in survival outcomes between groups of patients.
Some benefit was observed among patients with a PS of 1 or 2
(exploratory analyses), deserving further studies targeting
angiogenesis in this disease.
Supported by the French League Against Cancer.
Presented in part at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology, June 2-6, 2006, Atlanta, GA.
Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and
author contributions are found at the end of this article. |