Quality of life in patients with malignant ascites during catumaxomab treatment: Results from the CASIMAS trial.

Abstract

e13095^ Background: Malignant Ascites (MA) is associated with a poor prognosis and limited palliative treatment options. To demonstrate the value of a new treatment the assessment of quality of life (QoL) is of particular importance. Following the demonstration of catumaxomab’s potential to stabilize QoL and prolong the time to first deterioration of QoL, results from CASIMAS give evidence that the QoL of patients remains unaffected during catumaxomab treatment Methods: In a two-arm, open-label, multicentre phase II/III study 219 patients were randomized to catumaxomab plus premedication of 25 mg prednisolone (111 pts) or to catumaxomab alone (108 pts) QoL was measured using the EQ-5D visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). The EQ-VAS reports the respondent’s self-rated health on a vertical scale where the endpoints are labelled “Best imaginable health state” (100) and “Worst imaginable health state” (0). This information is used as a quantitative measure of health outcome. Patients were asked to complete EQ-VAS during the treatment period (d 0, 3 and 10) and follow-up (d8, 28). Descriptive analyses were performed according to EQ-5D User Guide (Version 4.0). Additionally ascites related symptoms were measured with a disease specific FACIT patient questionnaire. Results: For the pooled population (catumaxomab plus prednisolone and catumaxomab alone) longitudinal analysis of the EQ-VAS showed no relevant changes in mean score during the treatment period of catumaxomab (d0: 51.5; d3: 50.9; d10: 51.0) and compared to screening (52.7). An increase in mean values was observed in the follow-up period (d8: 53.9, d28: 57.1). Descriptive comparison of both treatment groups revealed no major differences in QoL and ascites related symptoms during the treatment and follow-up period, indicating that prednisolone has no impact on patient`s self-rated health. Conclusions: This analysis shows that QoL as measured by EQ-VAS remains unaltered during the treatment with catumaxomab and improves after the treatment period. The improvement is plausible due to the prolonged-puncture-free survival and is consistent with previous observations of QoL changes during and after intraperitoneal treatment with catumaxomab.