GEM20110714: Final overall survival results of the phase III study of first-line gemcitabine plus cisplatin versus fluorouracil plus cisplatin in recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Abstract

6521 Background: GEM20110714, the first randomized, phase III study (NCT01528618) of systemic chemotherapy in recurrent or metastatic (R/M) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), reported significant reduction of disease progression with gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP) versus fluorouracil plus cisplatin (FP; hazard ratio [HR], 0.55; 95% CI, 0·44–0·68; P < .001). This study establishes GP as the standard-of-care for first-line treatment of R/M NPC. We present the final overall survival (OS) analysis here. Methods: In this multicenter, open-label study conducted in China, patients who had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 and R/M NPC were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive up to six cycles of either GP or FP once every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was PFS, which has been previously reported; OS was a secondary endpoint. The final OS analysis was conducted with the data cutoff date of December 17, 2019. Results: After a median follow-up time of 64.4 months (95% CI, 61.1-67.6), 148 (81.8%) and 165 (91.2%) deaths occurred in the GP and FP arms, respectively. The estimated hazard ratio for OS was 0.723 (95% CI, 0.578 to 0.904; two-sided P = .004). The median OS was 22.1 months with GP versus 18.6 months with FP. The OS probabilities at 1, 3, and 5 years were 79.9% vs. 71.8%, 31.0% vs. 20.4%, and 18.5% vs. 7.6%, respectively. Un-predefined subgroup analyses based on baseline characteristics were consistent with the primary OS analysis. Postdiscontinuation systemic therapy use was similar: GP, 52%; FP, 57%. No new safety signals emerged. Conclusions: In patients with R/M NPC, GP is the first regimen to show significant improvement in OS in a phase III randomized study compared with a traditional chemotherapy regimen (i.e. FP). GP should be considered the standard treatment option for these patients. Clinical trial information: NCT01528618 .