Epoetin Alfa in Treating Anemia in Patients With Solid Tumors

July 15, 2016 updated by: Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology

A Phase III, Randomized Study Of Two Different Dosing Schedules Of Erythropoetin In Anemic Patients With Cancer

RATIONALE: Epoetin alfa may stimulate red blood cell production and treat anemia in patients with solid tumors. It is not yet known whether epoetin alfa given once a week is more effective than epoetin alfa given once every 3 weeks in treating anemia.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to study the effectiveness of epoetin alfa in treating anemia in patients who have solid tumors.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  • Compare the effects of 2 different schedules of epoetin alfa on decreasing transfusion requirements in anemic patients with nonmyeloid cancer.
  • Compare the effects of these regimens on increasing hemoglobin levels in these patients.
  • Compare the effects of these regimens on overall quality of life (QOL) and anemia-specific components of QOL in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to concurrent chemotherapy or radiotherapy (yes vs no), concurrent platinum-based (cisplatin or carboplatin) chemotherapy (yes vs no), degree of anemia (mild [hemoglobin at least 9.0 g/dL] vs severe [hemoglobin less than 9.0 g/dL]), age (60 and under vs over 60), and type of neoplasm (plasma cell disorder [including multiple myeloma] or lymphoproliferative disorder [including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia] vs all other neoplasms).

All patients receive epoetin alfa (EPO) subcutaneously (SC) once weekly for 3 weeks. Patients are then randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

365

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Arizona
      • Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 85259-5404
        • CCOP - Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Oncology Program
    • Florida
      • Jacksonville, Florida, United States, 32224
        • Mayo Clinic
    • Illinois
      • Peoria, Illinois, United States, 61602
        • CCOP - Illinois Oncology Research Association
      • Urbana, Illinois, United States, 61801
        • CCOP - Carle Cancer Center
    • Iowa
      • Des Moines, Iowa, United States, 50309-1016
        • CCOP - Iowa Oncology Research Association
      • Sioux City, Iowa, United States, 51101-1733
        • Siouxland Hematology-Oncology
    • Kansas
      • Wichita, Kansas, United States, 67214-3882
        • CCOP - Wichita
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48106
        • CCOP - Michigan Cancer Research Consortium
    • Minnesota
      • Duluth, Minnesota, United States, 55805
        • CCOP - Duluth
      • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
        • Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
    • Nebraska
      • Omaha, Nebraska, United States, 68106
        • CCOP - Missouri Valley Cancer Consortium
    • North Dakota
      • Fargo, North Dakota, United States, 58122
        • CCOP - Merit Care Hospital
      • Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States, 58201
        • Altru Cancer Center
    • Ohio
      • Toledo, Ohio, United States, 43623-3456
        • CCOP - Toledo Community Hospital
    • Oklahoma
      • Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, 74136
        • CCOP - Oklahoma
    • Pennsylvania
      • Danville, Pennsylvania, United States, 17822-2001
        • CCOP - Geisinger Clinic and Medical Center
    • South Dakota
      • Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, 57709
        • Rapid City Regional Hospital
      • Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, 57104
        • CCOP - Sioux Community Cancer Consortium

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Diagnosis of a nonmyeloid cancer (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer)

  • Anemia secondary to cancer or cancer treatment*

    • Hemoglobin less than 12 g/dL (males)
    • Hemoglobin less than 11 g/dL (females) NOTE: *Active anticancer therapy is not required for study enrollment

  • Anemia must not be secondary to any of the following:

    • B_12, folic acid, or iron deficiency

      • Ferritin must be normal or elevated
    • Gastrointestinal bleeding or hemolysis
    • Primary or chemotherapy-induced myelodysplastic syndromes
  • No untreated CNS metastases

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

  • 18 and over

Performance status

  • ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

  • At least 6 months

Cardiovascular

  • No history of uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmias
  • No history of deep venous thrombosis within the past year (unless on anticoagulation)
  • No uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure at least 180 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure at least 100 mm Hg) within the past year (unless on anticoagulation)

Pulmonary

  • No history of pulmonary embolism within the past year (unless on anticoagulation)

Other

  • Not pregnant or nursing
  • Negative pregnancy test
  • Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after study participation
  • No known hypersensitivity to epoetin alfa, mammalian cell-derived products, or human albumin
  • No new onset of seizures within the past 3 months
  • No poorly controlled seizures
  • Able and willing to complete quality of life forms
  • Alert and mentally competent to give informed consent

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

  • More than 6 months since prior epoetin alfa
  • More than 6 months since any prior investigational forms of epoetin alfa (e.g., gene-activated epoetin alfa or novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein)
  • No concurrent peripheral blood stem cell transplantation
  • No concurrent bone marrow transplantation

Surgery

  • More than 14 days since prior major surgery

Other

  • More than 2 weeks since prior red blood cell transfusions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: epoetin alfa - long term dosing

Patients receive epoetin alfa (EPO) subcutaneously (SC) once weekly for 3 weeks. Then patients receive EPO SC once weekly for 18 weeks. Quality of life is assessed at randomization at then monthly during study treatment.

Patients are followed every 6 months for 1 year.
Biological: epoetin alfa
Experimental: epoetin alfa - short term dosing

Patients receive epoetin alfa (EPO) subcutaneously (SC) once weekly for 3 weeks. Patients receive EPO SC on day 1 of weeks 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19. Quality of life is assessed at randomization at then monthly during study treatment.

Patients are followed every 6 months for 1 year.
Biological: epoetin alfa

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Compare the effects of these regimens on increasing hemoglobin levels
Time Frame: Up to 1 year post-treatment
Up to 1 year post-treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Compare the effects of these regimens on overall quality of life (QOL)
Time Frame: Up to 1 year post-treatment
Up to 1 year post-treatment
Compare the effects of anemia-specific components of QOL
Time Frame: Up to 1 year post-treatment
Up to 1 year post-treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Study Chair: David P. Steensma, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 7, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

April 9, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 18, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2016

Last Verified

July 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NCCTG-N02C2
  • CDR0000288821 (Registry Identifier: PDQ (Physician Data Query))

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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