The special problems of conducting clinical trials in elderly patients

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Bene ◽  
Richard Liston

It is frequently observed that medical treatments are evaluated in patient populations which have characteristics significantly different from those of patients upon whom the treatments will be used once established in clinical practice. The most striking illustration of this has been the almost complete exclusion, until recently, of elderly patients from trials of new medication. Whereas clinical trials include younger adults with a single pathology, the real world of patient care is dominated by older adults with multiple pathology.

Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 133 (12) ◽  
pp. 1298-1307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah M. Stephens ◽  
John C. Byrd

Abstract Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) therapy has changed dramatically with the introduction of several targeted therapeutics. Ibrutinib was the first approved for use in 2014 and now is used for initial and salvage therapy of CLL patients. With its widespread use in clinical practice, ibrutinib’s common and uncommon adverse events reported less frequently in earlier clinical trials have been experienced more frequently in real-world practice. In particular, atrial fibrillation, bleeding, infections, and arthralgias have been reported. The management of ibrutinib’s adverse events often cannot be generalized but must be individualized to the patient and their long-term risk of additional complications. When ibrutinib was initially developed, there were limited therapeutic alternatives for CLL, which often resulted in treating through the adverse events. At the present time, there are several effective alternative agents available, so transition to an alternative CLL directed therapy may be considered. Given the continued expansion of ibrutinib across many therapeutic areas, investigation of the pathogenesis of adverse events with this agent and also clinical trials examining therapeutic approaches for complications arising during therapy are needed. Herein, we provide strategies we use in real-world CLL clinical practice to address common adverse events associated with ibrutinib.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e17041-e17041
Author(s):  
M. Ulcickas Yood ◽  
P. Feng Wang ◽  
S. Hensley Alford ◽  
S. Oliveria ◽  
K. Wells ◽  
...  

e17041 Background: Although treatment effects and toxicities have been reported from randomized clinical trials of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), little information is available from real-world clinical practice where heterogeneous treatment patterns and patient populations may lead to different estimates than those observed in clinical trials. Methods: Using a population-based tumor registry at a large, Midwestern integrated health system, we identified all cases of stage III or IV SCCHN diagnosed 2000–2006. The incidence/severity of acute and late toxicities associated with SCCHN treatment was obtained from detailed medical record review of health system encounters, including physician notes. Grading of toxicities (using CTCAE3 criteria), distinction between acute and late toxicity, and analyses by treatment are ongoing. The incidence and severity of toxicities will be presented by treatment regimen, tumor location and tumor stage. We presented here an interim analysis. Results: Among the target population of 194 patients that will ultimately be included in this study, 137 medical record reviews have been completed to date. The percentages of patients with toxicities, including 95% confidence intervals are presented in the table , below. Conclusions: Toxicity in patients with advanced SCCHN is common. Data from clinical practice quantifying the incidence are lacking, these data from an observational real-world study provide important baseline information on the incidence of toxicities in patients with advanced SCCHN and also call for safer effective treatment for SCCHN. [Table: see text] [Table: see text]


Blood ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 4552-4552
Author(s):  
Pengpeng Xu ◽  
Mingci Cai ◽  
Wendy Zhang ◽  
Wei Li Zhao

Abstract Background: Clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of the CD30-targeted antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (BV) for the treatment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma(e.g. ALCL, PTCL-NOS, AITL, CTCL and etc.). While clinical trials are critical for establishing efficacy, collection of real-world data outside of the controlled trial setting is important to evaluate how interventions are applied and assess the effectiveness of new treatments in routine clinical practice. Inclusion criteria are often rather restrictive compared with the patient populations seen by physicians in daily practice. There are limited real-world data related to treatment with BV in China. Our study aims to obtain timely real-world knowledge in terms of safety and effectiveness of BV in CD30+ lymphoma patients in China. Study Design and Methods: The study (NCT04837222) is a real-world, prospective, multicenter study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of BV in patients with CD30+ lymphoma in China. Consecutive CD30+ lymphoma patients treated with BV as a part of standard clinical practice will be enrolled. Key inclusion criteria includes adult patients undergoing treatment with BV or to be received with BV, patient/legal guardian must be able to read, understand, and sign the Informed Consent Form, CD30+ lymphoma by INV (any CD30 expression). Exclusion criteria includes patient who currently participates in or with plan to participate in any interventional clinical trial, any other reason that, in the investigator's opinion, makes the patient unsuitable to participate in this study. As CD30+ lymphoma is not a common disease and the affordability of novel treatment is limited, 1000 patients with CD30+ lymphoma will be recruited from almost 30 hematology centers. The physician will determine the treatment regimen, as well as the frequency of laboratory and clinical assessment according to her/his routine practice. All patients will be followed up per routine clinical practice and data will be documented at baseline/3/6/9/12/18/24 months unless withdrawal of Informed Consent, death or loss of follow-up, whichever comes first. Loss to follow-up will be minimized through active contact with participating patients thereafter to ensure almost all clinically relevant outcomes will be captured. The primary endpoint is serious adverse events. Secondary endpoints include adverse events, adverse drug reaction, dose adjustment, characteristics of patients receiving BV, use of BV, number of BV cycles administered, disease characteristics, time to next treatment, overall response rate, duration of response, progression free survival rate, overall survival rate, quality of life and cost-effectiveness ratio. Descriptive analysis will be performed for data analysis. Disclosures Zhang: Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Current Employment.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 3490-3490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie E Zettler ◽  
Chadi Nabhan ◽  
Ajeet Gajra ◽  
Bruce Feinberg

Introduction: Registry data indicate that 20% or more of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients are ≥60; these HL patients have been labeled as elderly as their treatment has been associated with more toxicity, a higher relapse rate, and greater mortality relative to younger patients. The characteristics of HL in elderly patients differ from those in younger patients and may represent a biologically more aggressive disease. Further, elderly patients generally have a greater comorbidity burden than their younger counterparts, which may contribute to their under-representation in clinical trials. Nivolumab (NIVO) and pembrolizumab (PEMBRO) are both approved for treating relapsed/refractory HL based on studies that largely enrolled younger patients, as only about 10% of enrolled patients in the pivotal trials that led to their United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval were ≥60 years of age. Whether adverse events (AEs) related to these immunotherapies differ between younger and older HL patients is unknown and may have important clinical and practice implications. Therefore, we reviewed all post-marketing case reports from the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) Database involving NIVO or PEMBRO for HL and compared AEs and outcomes by age. Methods: The FAERS database is a repository of anonymized reports for product-related AEs, classified using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) and categorized as serious or non-serious. The database was queried for cases involving NIVO or PEMBRO (and their respective trade names) from the FDA approval date for the HL indication (May 17, 2016 for NIVO; March 14, 2017 for PEMBRO) through March 31, 2019. Cases were excluded if the age of the patient was unknown, or if the case was reported outside the US. Comparisons of rates of AEs by age group were made using Fisher's exact test; statistical significance was determined at a two-sided α=0.05. Results: A total of 126 cases were retrieved (117 involving NIVO, 9 involving PEMBRO). One hundred and fourteen of the 126 cases (90%) were categorized as serious. Median age of all patients involved was 56 (range 10-89); 53 of the cases (42%) involved patients age 60 or older (Table). Overall, 8 cases had an outcome categorized as life-threatening; 20 cases resulted in death; 2 resulted in disability; and 74 resulted in hospitalization. A higher proportion of cases involving younger patients were categorized under the reaction group "neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified" (16% vs. 2%; p<0.01), and older patients had a greater incidence of infectious complications compared with their younger counterparts, though this was marginally significant (40% vs. 23%; p=0.05). The proportion of cases resulting in hospitalization was significantly higher in the ≥60 age group as compared to the <60 age group (79% vs. 44%; p <0.01). Adverse reactions that were common in clinical trials, such as fatigue, pyrexia, headache, peripheral neuropathy, upper respiratory tract infection, hypothyroidism, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, did not show any significant associations by age group (all p values >0.05). Conclusions: Although elderly patients comprise 20% of the HL patient population in the US, our post-marketing analysis indicates that AEs in this subgroup account for more than 40% of the total. This suggests that elderly HL patients experience a disproportional number of AEs compared to younger HL patients. While the types of AEs reported in post-marketing cases generally paralleled those observed in clinical trials of HL patients receiving NIVO or PEMBRO, hospitalizations and infections were more common in the elderly group. These differences in the adverse reactions and safety outcomes associated with PD-1 blockade therapy in HL patients may help inform clinical care and monitoring for AEs. Despite the inherent limitations of this study, our findings complement clinical trial safety data and provide insight into real-world trends in reported safety signals that merit further study. Disclosures Zettler: Cardinal Health: Employment. Nabhan:Aptitude Health: Employment. Gajra:Cardinal Health: Employment. Feinberg:Cardinal Health: Employment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela JM Hall ◽  
Andrew RJ Mitchell

Vernakalant is an antiarrhythmic drug licensed for the pharmacological cardioversion of recent onset AF. Randomised clinical trials, backed up by real-world experience, have confirmed its efficacy at restoring sinus rhythm. Vernakalant can be administered simply with a short time to action, facilitating early discharge from hospital in selected patients in place of electrical cardioversion. The authors explore the data behind vernakalant and discuss how it can be introduced into clinical practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21
Author(s):  
D. P. Kamilova ◽  
M. M. Ovchinnikova ◽  
E. Sh. Ablyaeva ◽  
M. M. Leviashvili ◽  
N. S. Stuleva ◽  
...  

Introduction. The efficacy and safety of biosimilar follitropin alpha have been demonstrated in randomized blinded prospective clinical trials of phases I and III. Unfortunately, there is a gap between the clinical trials and real clinical practice data. The real-world patient data helps to create an evidence-based background for successful implementation of medicine at everyday practice in a nonselected population.Aim: to investigate the efficacy of follitropin alpha biosimilar therapy (Primapur®) in nonselected real-world population.Materials and Methods. A retrospective observational anonymized cohort study of follitropin alpha biosimilar (Primapur®) as a pre-filled pen injector with a dose adjustment of 5 IU, aimed to investigate its efficacy and safety in a nonselected population with indications to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) was carried out. The ovarian stimulation (OS) protocols included: monotherapy protocols with using only Primapur®; mixed protocols (recombinant and urinary-derived gonadotropins); short protocols with using antagonists of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and long protocols with GnRH agonists. The stimulation protocols were analyzed with Primapur® application for at least 5 days.Results. The overall clinical efficacy of ovarian stimulation cycles (N = 5484) was: oocytes retrieved - 9.5 ± 7.2, mature (MII) - 6.8 ± 6.6, fertilized (2PN) - 6.1 ± 5.8, clinical pregnancy per ET (PR) - 38.4 %. Mixed gonadotropin protocols (N = 2625) vs. monotherapy with Primapur® (N = 2859): oocytes retrieved - 8.6 ± 6.8 vs. 10.3 ± 7.4 (p < 0.001), mature (MII) - 6.7 ± 6.2 vs. 7.7 ± 6.9 (p < 0.001), fertilized (2PN) - 5.8 ± 5.2 vs. 7.2 ± 6.2 (p < 0.001). There were statistically significant differences between oocyte yields in mixed vs. monotherapy protocols due to subgroup differences, including age, body mass index (BMI) and IVF/ICSI attempts. No statistically significant differences were found for PR: 39.3 % vs. 37.6 % (p = 0.314). Monotherapy protocols with GnRH antagonist OS (N = 2183) vs. GnRH agonist (N = 676) revealed: oocytes retrieved - 10.5 ± 7.5 vs. 9.6 ± 7.0 (p = 0.032), mature (MII) - 7.6 ± 6.9 vs. 6.7 ± 5.7 (p < 0.001), fertilized (2PN) - 7.3 ± 6.3 vs. 5.7 ± 5.0 (p < 0.001). There were statistically significant differences between BMI and IVF/ICSI attempts. No statistically significant differences were found for PR: 37.9 % vs. 35.9 % (p = 0.482). All medicines were well tolerated and no serious adverse reactions were reported.Conclusion. This was the largest retrospective observational study conducted in the field of fertility in Russia and involved 5484 ovarian stimulation protocols at 35 IVF clinics. The obtained results demonstrated similar clinical efficacy for follitropin alpha biosimilar Primapur® in different OS protocols in real clinical practice. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 001857872093175
Author(s):  
Mary J. Ferrill ◽  
Alireza FakhriRavari ◽  
Lisa Hong ◽  
Jody Jacobson Wedret

Background: With more than a million new biomedical articles published annually, healthcare providers must stay up to date in order to provide optimal evidence-based patient care. The concise ROOTs (relevance, observe validity, obtain clinically significant results, and translate results to clinical practice) format is a valuable tool to assist with literature evaluation. Purpose: To illustrate how major study limitations found in clinical trials might inhibit the ability to adopt the findings of such studies to patient care. Methods: Examples from published clinical trials that contain major study flaws were used to illustrate, if taken at face value, would lead to erroneous assumptions, and if adopted, could potentiallly harm patients. Conclusion: When evaluating the literature, it is crucial to identify limitations in the published literature that might reduce the internal validity, affect the results, or limit the external validity of clinical trials, hence affecting the usability of literature for patient care. This article provides examples of clinical trials that contain major study limitations with potentially erroneous assumptions. These illustrations are meant to show how important it is to delve deeper into an article before conclusions are drawn.


1985 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 1136-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Allen ◽  
R Gralla ◽  
L Reilly ◽  
M Kellick ◽  
C Young

Prior studies in adults have shown that metoclopramide (MCP), when given in high intravenous (IV) doses (2 mg/kg), is a highly effective antiemetic for chemotherapy-induced vomiting. It is well-tolerated in older adults, but younger adults have an increased disposition to acute extrapyramidal reactions (EPRs). Before studying the efficacy of MCP as an antiemetic in children, we first had to establish the safe dose range. We performed a dose-increase MCP toxicity study in children receiving highly emetic chemotherapy such as cisplatin (120 mg/m2) or cyclophosphamide (greater than 900 mg/m2), beginning with a dose of 0.2 mg/kg and increasing the dose in nine steps to 3 mg/kg. MCP was given every two hours for four doses beginning one-half hour before chemotherapy. To reduce the incidence of EPRs, we added concomitant diphenhydramine. In MCP doses less than 2 mg, toxicity was minimal. In doses greater than or equal to 2 mg, 4/27 (15%) had EPRs and 9/27 (33%) had akathisia. Children who received two consecutive days of MCP had a higher frequency of EPRs. Metoclopramide (2 mg/kg) had promising antiemetic efficacy in a preliminary nonrandomized trial. Chemotherapy-experienced children vomited fewer than five times in 9/21 (43%) trials, and new patients vomited fewer than five times in 7/10 (70%) trials. MCP will become more useful as an antiemetic in children if better measures to prevent EPRs can be developed. Chemotherapy-induced emesis has the same negative implications in children as it does in adults and optimum antiemetic regimens can only be discovered by conducting randomized clinical trials in children.


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