A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study of cisplatin plus a fluoropyrimidine with or without ramucirumab as first-line therapy in patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma (RAINFALL, NCT02314117).
TPS178 Background: Ramucirumab, a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody directed to the ectodomain of VEGFR-2, prevents ligand binding to the receptor, blocking activation of downstream receptor-mediated pathways. Ramucirumab has demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in 2 phase III registration studies (REGARD, RAINBOW) in patients in second-line treatment of gastric cancer. This global phase III trial will compare PFS in patients with HER2-negative, metastatic gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma receiving ramucirumab with cisplatin/capecitabine (or 5-FU) versus placebo with cisplatin/capecitabine (or 5-FU) as first-line treatment. The trial is conducted in 137 sites in the Americas, Europe and Japan and is currently open to enrollment. Methods: Eligible patients will be randomized to receive ramucirumab (8mg/kg on days 1 and 8, based upon population pharmacokinetic modelling) or placebo with cisplatin/capecitabine every 21-day cycle until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or other withdrawal criteria are met. The primary endpoint is PFS; OS is the key secondary endpoint. Efficacy will be considered at 3 analysis points: futility analysis for PFS, primary analysis of PFS & final analysis of OS. A gatekeeping strategy will be used to assess PFS and OS. The OS endpoint will only be tested if the PFS test is significant to control Type I error at 5% across both endpoints. An exposure/safety analysis will be done after 60 patients have started the 3rd cycle. The study has 90% power to demonstrate a PFS advantage assuming HR = 0.70 and 80% power to demonstrate an OS advantage assuming HR = 0.77. Other secondary endpoints include PFS2 (the time from randomization to disease progression after the start of additional systemic anticancer treatment, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first), objective response rate, safety and quality of life. As of 9/11/2015, 128 patients have been enrolled in 19 countries. The 1st exposure/safety analysis is underway. Clinical trial information: NCT02314117.