Challenges in Using Recommended Quality of Life Measures to Assess Fluctuating Health: A Think-Aloud Study to Understand How Recall and Timing of Assessment Influence Patient Responses

Background It can be challenging to measure quality of life to calculate quality-adjusted life-years in recurrent fluctuating health states, as quality of life can constantly change. It is not clear how patients who experience fluctuations complete measures and how assessment timing and recall influence responses. Objective We aimed to understand how patients with fluctuating health complete widely recommended and commonly used measures (EQ-5D-5L, EORTC QLQ-C30 and SF-12) and the extent to which the recall period (‘health today’, ‘past week’ and ‘past 4 weeks’) and timing of assessment influence the way that patients complete these questionnaires. Methods Twenty-four adult patients undergoing chemotherapy for urological, gynaecological or bowel cancers in the UK participated in think-aloud interviews, while completing the measures, completed a pictorial task illustrating how quality of life changed during the chemotherapy cycle and took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using constant comparison. Results Patients were consistent in describing their quality of life as changing considerably throughout a chemotherapy cycle. The shorter recall period of ‘health today’ does not adequately represent patients’ quality of life because of fluctuations, patients remarked they could give a different answer depending on the timing of assessment, and many struggled to combine the “ups and downs” to answer measures with longer recall (‘past week’ and ‘past 4 weeks’). Across all measures, patients attempted to provide averages, adopt the peak-end rule or focus on the best part of their experience. Patients commonly used more than one approach when completing a given questionnaire as well as across questionnaires. Conclusions Patients who experience recurrent fluctuations in health are unable to provide meaningful responses about their quality of life when completing quality-of-life measures due to the recall period and timing of assessment. The use of such responses to calculate health state values in economic evaluations to inform resource allocation decisions in fluctuating conditions must be questioned.

A Phase III, Randomized, Multi-Center, Open-Label, Fixed Dose, Neulasta Active-Controlled Clinical Trial of F-627, a Novel G-CSF, in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Myelotoxic Chemotherapy

Background - Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is the primary dose-limiting toxicity in patients receiving myelotoxic chemotherapy which is associated with increased morbidity and early mortality. Ryzneuta TM (F-627), a recombinant fusion protein containing human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and IgG2-Fc fragment, is intended to reduce CIN by utilizing the neutrophilic proliferating and activating properties of G-CSF. F-627 was designed as a novel, non-pegylated molecule with dimeric G-CSF, which may possess stronger G-CSF receptor activating properties and improved efficacy compared to filgrastim and pegfilgrastim. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of F-627 given as a single fixed dose (20 mg) pre-filled syringe (PFS) as compared to Neulasta® (6 mg) in the first chemotherapy cycle. Methods - This was a phase III, multi-center, randomized, open-label, two-arm, active-controlled study that randomized female patients with Stage I to III invasive breast cancer who received 4 cycles of myelotoxic taxane + cyclophosphamide chemotherapy treatment. Forty-one (41) sites across 5 countries participated in the trial, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, and US. Patients were randomized to F-627 or Neulasta® in a 1:1 ratio on the day of chemotherapy and administered study drug 24 hours after chemotherapy administration in each cycle. A total of 393 patients were randomized and analyzed for efficacy and safety. Clinical assessments were cycle-specific and included physical examination, serum samples for immunogenicity before each chemotherapy cycle, laboratory assessments, hematology and CBC with differentials, urinalysis, body weight, vital signs, adverse event (AE) collection, and concomitant medications. The pharmacokinetics (PK) and the pharmacodynamics (PD) of F-627 were also assessed. The primary efficacy endpoint was the duration in days of Grade 4 (severe) neutropenia (ANC <0.5 × 10 9/L) during cycle 1 of chemotherapy. Results - The mean duration of Grade 4 neutropenia in chemotherapy cycle 1 was 0.2 days for both F-627 and Neulasta®. F-627 was non-inferior compared to Neulasta® for the duration of Grade 4 neutropenia in chemotherapy cycle 1 with a mean difference of 0.0 days (95% CI: -0.1, 0.1), utilizing a non-inferiority margin of 0.6 days. The incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia in chemotherapy cycle 1 was comparable between F-627 and Neulasta®, 11.7% for both treatment groups. For chemotherapy cycles 2, 3, and 4, the incidence and duration of Grade 4 neutropenia was generally lower than in chemotherapy cycle 1. The mean durations of Grade 4 neutropenia were 0.1, 0.0, and 0.0 days for F-627 and 0.1, 0.1, and 0.1 days for Neulasta® in chemotherapy cycles 2,3,4, respectively. The incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia was 4.6%, 2.6%, and 1.6% for F-627 and 5.1%, 6.3%, and 5.3% for Neulasta® in chemotherapy cycles 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Across all chemotherapy cycles and for each chemotherapy cycle, the mean duration and the incidence of IV antibiotic use and hospitalization due to febrile neutropenia or any infection were low and comparable between F-627 and Neulasta®. The depth of ANC nadir was comparable in each chemotherapy cycle between F-627 and Neulasta®. For each chemotherapy cycle, time to ANC nadir was slightly longer for patients treated with F-627 than those with Neulasta®; the mean time to ANC nadir was 6.4, 6.1, 6.2, and 6.2 days for F-627, compared to 6.1,5.3, 5.7, and 5.5 days for Neulasta® in cycles 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. F-627 was well tolerated, with a low incidence of serious AEs and AEs leading to discontinuation, comparable to the profile for Neulasta®. There were 3 deaths during the study (1 for F-627 and 2 for Neulasta®). None of the deaths were related to study drug treatment. Clinical laboratory abnormalities were observed to be similar between the two treatment groups. Conclusion - Once-per-cycle F-627, given as a fixed 20 mg dose, was non-inferior to Neulasta® in reducing the duration of severe neutropenia following TC chemotherapy. F-627 was well tolerated during the study with an overall safety profile comparable to that for Neulasta®. F-627 is a safe, effective, and easy to use alternative to current CIN therapy. Disclosures Daley: Evive: Current Employment, Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company. Chen: Evive: Current Employment.

Autonomic dysfunction in postoperative primitive neuroectodermal tumor of heart

We present a patient with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor arising from the right atrium who experienced multiple syncope episodes daily, which had first appeared 1 month after surgery. The symptoms continued to worsen over the course of chemotherapy, and the autonomic function test (AFT) was performed after the 14th chemotherapy cycle. The AFT revealed orthostatic hypotension and reduced baroreflex-dependent sympathetic reactivity. Physical counterpressure techniques were applied with a visual biofeedback intervention, and were found to be effective in reducing the syncope episodes.

Risk Factors for Oral Mucositis During Chemotherapy Treatment for Solid Tumors: A Retrospective STROBE-Guided Study

Purpose This study retrospectively analyzed the risk factors for transchemotherapy oral mucositis (OM). Methods Before each chemotherapy cycle, patients were routinely evaluated for the presence/severity of OM based on the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 scale for adverse effects and graded as follows: However, specific conditions such as mucositis are graded on a five-point scale: 0, absence of mucositis, grade 1 (Asymptomatic or mild), 2 (Presence of pain and moderate ulceration, without interference with food intake), 3 (severe pain with interference with food intake) or 4 (Life-threatening with the need for urgent intervention). Information from 2 years of evaluations was collected and patient medical records were reviewed to obtain data on chemotherapy cycle, sex, age, body mass index, body surface area, primary tumor, chemotherapy protocol, and history of head and neck radiotherapy. The X² test and multinomial logistic regression were used for statistical analysis (SPSS 20.0, p < 0.05). Results Among 19,000 total evaluations of 3,529 patients during 5.32 ± 4.7 chemotherapy cycles (CT) the prevalence of OM was 6.3% (n = 1,195). Chemotherapy duration (p < 0.001), female sex (p = 0.001), adjuvant intention (p = 0.008) and the use of carboplatin (p = 0.001), cisplatin (p = 0.029), docetaxel (p < 0.001) and bevacizumab (p = 0.026) independently increased the risk of mucositis. In head and neck tumors, 2018 year (p = 0.017), chemotherapy duration (p = 0.018), BMI > 30 (p = 0.008), radiotherapy (p = 0.037) and use of carboplatin (p = 0.046) and cyclophosphamide (p = 0.010) increased this prevalence. Conclusion Cycles of chemotherapy, sex, cytotoxicity drugs, bevacizumab and head and neck radiotherapy increase the risk of OM in solid tumors.

Prophylaxis of neutropenia with mecapegfilgrastim in patients with non-myeloid malignancies in a real-world setting.

e24072 Background: The prophylaxis of neutropenia has been evolving from short acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSFs) to long acting G-CSFs. The safety and effectiveness of long acting G-CSF in a real-world setting were still lacking. Methods: We performed a multi-center, non-interventional, real-world study to explore the tolerability and effectiveness of mecapegfilgrastim. Different prophylactic strategy (primary or secondary prophylaxis) were compared. The effect of mecapegfilgrastim by means of continuous administration was also explored. Results: This study included 638 patients who had complete the study from May 2019 to November 15, 2020. About half of the participants were breast cancer patients. The mean age of the patients were 56 years. The most frequently reported adverse event possibly related to study drug was white blood cell increase (6.2 %). No unexpected adverse events were reported. Overall, thirty-six (5.6 %) patients experienced grade ≥ 3 neutropenia in chemotherapy cycle one. The patients in the primary and secondary prophylaxis subgroups had incidence of grade ≥ 3 neutropenia of 4.3 % and 9.2 % in chemotherapy cycle one respectively. There was a decreasing trend of neutropenia from cycle one to cycle four when mecapegfilgrastim were administrated continuously. Conclusions: The mecapegfilgrastim was well tolerable and no unexpected adverse events were observed in real-world setting. Primary prophylaxis using mecapegfilgrastim had lower incidence of neutropenia than secondary usage.

Pre-therapeutic dihydropyridimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency screening: Impact on fluoropyrimidine dose reduction at the second chemotherapy cycle and on early severe toxicity.

3096 Background: DPD deficiency screening before fluoropyrimidine is a matter of debate. To avoid lethal toxicity, French authorities impose DPD screening before fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy by dosing uracilemia since April 2019. Methods: We have included all consecutive adult patients receiving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or capecitabin from April 2019 to January 2020 in 6 cancer centers. During the study period, different methods for screening had been applied: DPYD complete sequencing, phenotype (uracilemia and/or dihydrouracilemia/uracilemia ratio - UH2/U -) or both. All sceening tests were conducted in the same laboratory. Association between the method of DPD screening and fluoropyrimidine dose reduction at second chemotherapy cycle or on severe ≥grade 3 early toxicity (between first and second cycle) was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression. Concordance between genotype and phenotype for DPD deficiency was explored using Cohen Kappa test. Results: We included 597 patients, the median age was 63 (range, 55-77). The most prevalent cancers were digestive (68.3%), head and neck (19.4%) and breast (9.2%). 12.3% of patients received capecitabine and 87.3% received polychemotherapy. DPD deficiency screening was done for most of patients (n=519, 86.9%). DPD screening method consisted in full sequencing of DPYP (n=41; 7.9%), phenotype analysis (n=44, 8.5%) or both (n=424, 83.6%). We did not identify any complete DPD deficiency. Uracilemia was dosed for 467 patients, the median was 6.5 ng/mL and for 21 patients (4.5%) uracilemia was > 16 ng/mL and/or UH2/U <6, suggesting DPD deficiency. Severe early toxicities were observed for 82 patients (14%), with two patients presenting grade 5 toxicity. Overall DPD screening and method of DPD screening were not associated with fluoropyrimidine dose reduction at second cycle or early severe toxicity. In multivariate analysis, the only predictor for fluoropyrimidine reduction at second cycle (n = 125 patients) was polychemotherapy (OR=2.8; p=0.012). Kappa between uracilemia and UH2/U was 0.23 (poor concordance). Kappa between DPYP sequencing and uracilemia or UH2/U was 0.09 (very poor concordance). Conclusions: No DPD deficiency screening method was associated with dose adaptation at second cycle or early severe toxicity. The optimal strategy for DPD screening requires further clinical evaluation.

Analysis of Factors Causing Skin Damage in the Application of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter in Cancer Patients

Objective. To investigate the related factors of skin damage caused by peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) in cancer patients. Methods. It was a retrospective analysis of 202 cancer patients admitted to our hospital from February 2014 to July 2019. 50 cases of PICC-related skin damage and 152 cases of non-skin damage were studied. In addition, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent risk factors for PICC-related skin damage, including cancer patients with catheter-related skin damage and patients without skin damage. Results. 50 patients with PICC skin damage (19 males and 31 females) and 152 patients without skin damage (62 males and 90 females) were retrospectively analyzed. The skin damage rate was 24.8%. The analysis of variance results showed that many factors are related to PICC catheter-related skin damage, including hormones (χ2/Z = 4.468, P < 0.05 ), body mass index (BMI) (χ2/Z = −2.443, P < 0.05 ), days with tube (χ2 = 26.230, P < 0.05 ), chemotherapy cycle (χ2/Z = 25.638, P < 0.05 ), and self-care ability (χ2/Z = −1.968, P < 0.05 ). Logistic regression analysis showed that hormones (odds ratio (OR) = 3.896, P = 0.045 ), BMI (OR = 1.129, P = 0.017 ), days with tube (OR = 0.419, P = 0.013 ), and chemotherapy cycle (OR = 3.302, P = 0.028 ) are independent factors affecting PICC-related skin damage. Conclusion. The independent influencing factors of skin damage during PICC catheterization are hormones, BMI, number of days with tube, and chemotherapy cycle.