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Clinical Benefit and Health-Related Quality of Life Assessment in Patients Treated with Cisplatin/S-1 Versus Cisplatin/5-FU: Secondary End Point Results From the First-Line Advanced Gastric Cancer Study (FLAGS)

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Abstract

Purpose

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and time to worsening of clinical benefit parameters were evaluated as secondary end points in the phase 3 first-line advanced gastric cancer study (FLAGS) trial of cisplatin/S-1 versus cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in patients with previously untreated advanced gastric cancer.

Methods

The primary PRO end point was the Trial Outcome Index of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Gastric (FACT-Ga). FACT-Ga was completed at the beginning of the first 4 cycles, cycle 6, and then every 3 cycles thereafter. The Chemotherapy Convenience and Satisfaction Questionnaire (CCSQ) was administered before the first 4 cycles; clinical benefit parameters (performance status, weight loss, and anorexia) were assessed at baseline, prior to study drug administration on day 1 of each cycle after cycle 1, and at the end of study treatment.

Results

Compliance to questionnaire fulfillment was more than 80 % through cycle 9. Significantly, fewer patients treated with cisplatin/S-1 reported worsened physical well-being (PWB) scores (45.1 versus 51.7 %, p = 0.044) and experienced significantly longer time to worsening in PWB scores, with a median of 4.5 months (95 % confidence interval (CI), 3.1–5.1) compared to 3.0 months (2.8–4.6) with cisplatin/5-FU (CF) (p = 0.01). Patients receiving cisplatin/S-1 also reported significantly higher best and worst score of PWB as well as CCSQ scores and a longer median time to worsening in clinical benefit parameters.

Conclusions

Differences in secondary end points of PWB, CCSQ scores, and clinical benefit parameters favoring the cisplatin/S-1 arm provide further evidence for considering this combination a standard therapeutic option for first-line treatment of advanced gastric cancer.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge those who participated in this study as well as the investigators and their staff and Phillips Gilmore for the technical assistance in preparation of the manuscript and Clinical Trials Registration No. NCT00400179.

Conflict of Interest

All authors of this paper declare that there is no conflict of interest involved in this paper and have no financial relationship with Nordic Pharmaceuticals.

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Correspondence to György Bodoky.

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Bodoky, G., Scheulen, M.E., Rivera, F. et al. Clinical Benefit and Health-Related Quality of Life Assessment in Patients Treated with Cisplatin/S-1 Versus Cisplatin/5-FU: Secondary End Point Results From the First-Line Advanced Gastric Cancer Study (FLAGS). J Gastrointest Canc 46, 109–117 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12029-014-9680-1

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