Phase III, randomized, open-label study of triweekly docetaxel versus biweekly docetaxel as treatments for advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer: Findings from an interim safety analysis of the Finnish Uro-oncological Group Study 1-2003.

Abstract

129 Background: Docetaxel (T) administered at every three weeks is standard treatment for advanced HRPC. We compared 2-weekly to 3-weekly T as first- or second-line chemotherapy of advanced HRPC in this prospective randomized multicenter trial. Methods: 360 pts were randomly allocated to receive T 75 mg/m2 i.v. d1 q3 wks (tT) or 50 mg/m2 i.v. d1 and d 14, q4 wks (bT) from March 2004 to May 2009. Prednisolon 10 mg/day was administered in both groups. The groups were well balanced according to the WHO performance status, mean age (70 vs. 68, range 45–87), and the median serum PSA level at study entry (109 vs. 98 μ g/L, range 11–1,490). The primary endpoint was TTF. Study identifier: NCT00255606 . Results: 158 pts (tT, 79; bT, 79) were included in this preplanned interim safety analysis. 567 and 487 cycles were administered in the tT and bT groups, respectively. The most common grade 3–4 adverse events (expressed as %/cycles) in tT /bT were neutropenia 20%/14%, infection with/without neutropenia 8%/3%, fatigue 3%/ 3%, febrile neutropenia 2%/1%, and bone pain 2%/1%. Serious adverse events occurred more frequently in tT (n=60, 10.6% of cycles) than in bT (n=29, 6.0%, p=0.012). One pt. died from coronary infarction and one was diagnosed with ALL (both in bT group). 30 pts (38%) in bT group and 22 pts (28%) in tT group were receiving treatment at 6 months. (p=0.176). Conclusions: Biweekly T has been better tolerated than the conventional triweekly T with fewer serious adverse events and may be associated with similar efficacy. [Table: see text]