Retrospective observational study of salvage line ramucirumab monotherapy (RAM) for patients (pts) with unresectable advanced gastric cancer (AGC) which was refractory to fluoropyrimidine and taxanes.

Abstract

129 Background: RAM showed a survival benefit over best supportive care in second-line treatment after failure of fluoropyrimidine-containing chemotherapy for pts with advanced gastric or gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma (AGC). In clinical practice, RAM is used for some pts who have disease refractory to fluoropyrimidine and taxanes in salvage line setting. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated efficacy and safety of RAM in salvage lines between June 2015 and April 2017 for AGC at four Japanese institutions. All pts received 2 or more prior regimens containing fluoropyrimidine and taxanes, but not ramucirumab. We also explored prognostic factors for progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Fifty-one pts were collected. Pts' characteristics were as follows; median age: 67 (range 39-84) years; ECOG performance status ≤ 1: 43 (84%) pts; HER2 positive: 17 (33%) pts; number of metastatic sites ≥ 2: 29 (57%); number of prior therapies 2/3/4/5: 7(14%)/25(49%)/12(24%)/7(14%) pts. Median PFS and OS were 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6-2.2) and 5.1 (95% CI: 4.1-6.8) months, respectively. Twelve-week PFS rate was 25.5%. Objective response rate in 43 pts who had measurable disease was 2%. Disease control rate was 35%. Grade 3 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 7 (13%) pts such as anemia in 2 (4%), fatigue in 1 (2%), hypertension in 2 (4%), proteinuria in 2 (4%), intestinal bleeding in 1 (2%), and others in 2 (4%) pts. No grade 4 AEs and treatment related deaths were observed. Although multivariate analyses suggested that absence of primary tumor and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio < 2.5 at baseline were associated with better PFS, while statistically significant prognostic factors for OS were not identified in this study. Conclusions: Salvage line RAM showed acceptable toxicities and comparable efficacy with those reported in previous studies of second-line setting. It is suggested that RAM could be considered for salvage line treatment after fluoropyrimidine and taxanes containing regimens.