An observational study of a team management approach for first-line XELOX therapy in patients with advanced/recurrent colorectal cancer: The SMILE study (the study of metastatic colorectal cancer to investigate impact of learning effect).

Abstract

554 Background: Although oral chemotherapies such as XELOX are widely favored for convenience and flexibility, these have several disadvantages such as drug non-compliance and delayed discovery of adverse events. So we designed a multicenter, prospective, observational study to evaluate the efficacy of supportive interventions in first-line XELOX for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients (pts). Methods: CRC pts undergoing first-line XELOX (+Bevacizumab) therapy practicing one or more of supportive interventions as follows: 1) a telephone follow-up (TF), 2) instruction on dosage and administration by a pharmacist, 3) skin care instruction by a nurse, and 4) pts education by a doctor were eligible. The objective was to evaluate the incident rate of grade 2 or worse hand-foot syndrome (HFS), QoL, safety, and efficacy. QoL was assessed at baseline, 2, 4, 5 and 8 cycles after the treatment started, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Mental adjustment to cancer scale (MAC). Results: From April 2011 to September 2012, 80 pts were enrolled from 14 institutes. The characteristics were as follows: male/female: 46/34, age median: 63 (36-75), and supportive intervention 1)/2)/3)/4): 36/68/73/78. The incidence of grade 2 or worse HFS during 6 months were 11.1% (n=4) for those received TF (n=36), and 20.5% (n=9) for those received other intervention except TF (n=44). Relative dose intensity (RDI) was 75.7% (TF+/-: 77.7/74.3%) in oxaliplatin and 77.5% (TF+/-: 80.2/75.3%) in capecitabine, respectively. Although a tendency of the QoL score improvement about anxiety, fighting spirit and helplessness in a TF group was observed during the periods from start of therapy to 4 courses, there were no significant differences compared to other interventions except TF. Conclusions: We confirmed that HFS incidence was mitigated in a TF group. In regard to QoL, although we could not show the statistical differences due to some limitations of this study such as small sample size and non-randomized, it was indicated that TS had the potential to improve several QoL about anxiety, fighting spirit, and helplessness. Clinical trial information: UMIN000007185.