Patient-reported pain and other symptoms as prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in a phase III clinical trial of patients with advanced breast cancer.

Abstract

1068 Background: The safety and efficacy of gemcitabine plus paclitaxel versus paclitaxel in advanced breast cancer after anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy has been reported previously (Albain et al. 2008). This post-hoc analysis evaluates the prognostic effect of baseline scores of the Brief Pain Inventory short form (BPI-SF) and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) on OS. Methods: Patients completed theBPI-SF and the RSCL. BPI “worst pain” item and BPI interference subscale scores range from 0 (no pain or interference with daily living) to 10. Four RSCL subscales were transformed to 0-100, with 100 as best score. Univariate Cox models were used to determine the prognostic effect of each measure on OS. Multivariate Cox models were used to determine the prognostic effect of each measure in the presence of 11 demographic/clinical variables, including Karnofsky performance status, age, and estrogen and progesterone receptor status. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to compare OS among patient groups categorized using clinically meaningful thresholds and the sample median of the BPI and RSCL scores. Results: Randomized patients were evaluable for this analysis (n=529). In the univariate analysis, significant prognostic effects on OS were observed for baseline scores of both BPI measures (worst pain and interference) (HRs, 1.07 for 1-point increase; all p≤0.0042) and three out of four RSCL subscales (activity level, physical distress, quality of life) (HRs, 0.86-0.91 for 10-point increase; all p≤0.0120). In the multivariate Cox models, BPI worst pain remained as a significant prognostic factor (p=0.0245), as did RSCL activity level (p=0.0004). The median OS for patients with BPI worst pain score 0 (no pain) was 23.8 months (mos) versus 17.9 mos and 14.8 mos for scores 1-4 (mild) and 5-10 (moderate/severe) (log-rank p=0.0066). The median OS was 23.8 mos for patients with RSCL activity scores greater than or equal to the sample median (≥95.2) versus 14.6 mos for patients with scores <95.2 (log-rank p<0.0001). Conclusions: This retrospective analysis resulted in strong evidence that BPI-SF and RSCL provide distinct prognostic information for OS.