Phase II study evaluating the association of gemcitabine, trastuzumab and erlotinib as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (GATE 1)

Eric Assenat, Laurent Mineur, Caroline Mollevi, Evelyne Lopez-Crapez, Catherine Lombard-Bohas, Emmanuelle Samalin, Fabienne Portales, Thomas Walter, Hélène de Forges, Marie Dupuy, Florence Boissière-Michot, Alexandre Ho-Pun-Cheung, Marc Ychou, Thibaut Mazard, Eric Assenat, Laurent Mineur, Caroline Mollevi, Evelyne Lopez-Crapez, Catherine Lombard-Bohas, Emmanuelle Samalin, Fabienne Portales, Thomas Walter, Hélène de Forges, Marie Dupuy, Florence Boissière-Michot, Alexandre Ho-Pun-Cheung, Marc Ychou, Thibaut Mazard

Abstract

In a previous phase II study (THERAPY), cetuximab and trastuzumab combination, as second-line after progression with gemcitabine, showed disease stabilization in 27% of 33 patients with pancreatic carcinoma. In the present phase II multicenter study, we assessed the efficacy and tolerance of gemcitabine, trastuzumab plus erlotinib as first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. The primary endpoint was disease control rate (DCR, RECIST v.1); secondary endpoints were progression-free (PFS), overall (OS) survival and toxicity (NCI-CTCAE v3.0). Ancillary study addressed the predictive value of both EGFR/HER2 expression and KRAS mutational status. Sixty-three patients from four centers were included (62 evaluable for toxicity, 59 for efficacy), median age was 62 years (35-77), 59.7% men. The median treatment duration was 16.1 weeks (2.1-61). Eleven patients (19%) reported a partial tumor response, and 33 (56%) disease stabilization. DCR was 74.6% (95%CI: 61.8-85.0; 44/59 patients). After a median follow-up of 23.3 months (0.6-23.6), median PFS was 3.5 months (95%CI: 2.4-3.8) and median OS 7.9 months (95%CI: 5.1-10.2). PFS was significantly longer in patients with grade ≥ 2 cutaneous toxicities vs patients with grade 0-1 toxicities (HR = 0.55, 95%CI: 0.33-0.92, P = .020). Expression of EGFR and HER2 was correlated with PFS and OS in multivariate analysis; HER2 expression was correlated with the tumor response. Main severe toxicities were neutropenia (32%), cutaneous rash (37%) and thrombosis/embolisms (35.5%). This triplet combination is effective in terms of disease control, PFS and OS, and acceptable for safety. A larger study to investigate this combination compared to the standard regimen should be discussed.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01204372.

Keywords: combination therapy; efficacy; pancreatic cancer.

© 2020 Union for International Cancer Control.

References

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Source: PubMed

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