Phase II study of amrubicin for previously treated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Abstract

e21095 Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare disease with few effective treatments and poor prognosis. Although pemetrexed (PEM) and cisplatin for the first-line treatment, and nivolumab for the second-line are considered as the standard treatment for patients with unresectable disease, these effects are still limited. There are no other effective agents for second-line treatment, although PEM-based regimens, vinorelbine, gemcitabine are recommended by some guidelines. Novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of MPM are urgently required. Amrubicin (AMR) is a chemically synthesized anthracycline-based anticancer drug that inhibits cell growth by stabilizing the cleavable complex via topoisomerase II. The same anthracycline; adriamycin was one of the key drugs for MPM prior to the appearance of PEM, but its efficacy against MPM has not been revealed. Thus, we planned a phase II study of AMR therapy for previously treated MPM. Methods: Eligibility criteria were previously treated patients with unresectable MPM, performance status 0-2, age≦75, and adequate hematological, hepatic and renal function. Patients were treated with injections of AMR 35 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, and 3. The treatments were repeated every 3-4 weeks. The primary endpoint was the response rate (RR), the secondary endpoints were safety, progression-free survival time (PFS), overall survival time (OS). Results: Although the number of target cases was 32 cases, case registration was delayed and evaluation was performed with 10 cases enrolled. Patients' characteristics were as follows: male/female = 9/1; performance status 0/1/2 = 0/10/0; median age (range) = 67 (49-73); histology epithelial/sarcomatoid/mixed = 4/3/3; stage (IMIG) I/II/III/IV/postoperative recurrence = 0/1/4/4/1. RR was 10.0% (1/10), median PFS was 1.6 months and median OS was 6.6 months. Disease control rate was 50.0% (5/10). Adverse events of Grade 3 or 4 were neutropenia 60.0% (6/10), thrombocytopenia 10.0% (1/10), anemia 10.0% (1/10), febrile neutropenia 10.0% (1/10), and pneumonia 10.0% (1/10). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that AMR therapy for previously treated MPM was tolerable. The efficacy was limited, but may be effective in some cases. Clinical trial information: UMIN000006381 .