New Boehringer Ingelheim Data To Be Presented On Health-Related Quality Of Life With Afatinib In Patients With EGFR Mutation-Positive Advanced NSCLC

Date: Oct-06-2012Boehringer Ingelheim has announced new patient-reported health-related outcomes for its investigational oncology compound afatinib,* including lung cancer-related symptoms and quality of life (QoL). These data are secondary endpoints of LUX-Lung 3, a Phase III trial of afatinib (n=230) compared to chemotherapy (pemetrexed/cisplatin) (n=115) in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The poster was presented at the ESMO 2012 Congress (European Society for Medical Oncology) on Sunday, September 30 at 6:45 - 8:15 a.m. ET.

According to the abstract, three lung cancer symptoms - cough, dyspnea (shortness of breath), and pain - were analyzed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire for lung cancer (QLQ-LC13). Results showed that a higher proportion of afatinib-treated patients had 10 point or more improvements in cough (67% vs. 60%; p=0.2444), dyspnea (64% vs. 50%; p=0.0103) and pain (59% vs. 48%; p=0.0513) compared with those treated with chemotherapy. Patients treated with afatinib also reported a delay in the worsening (time to deterioration) of their lung cancer-related symptoms - cough (HR=0.60; p=0.0072) and dyspnea (HR=0.68; p=0.0145) - compared with those treated with chemotherapy. The time to deterioration of pain was not significant between the treatment arms (HR=0.82; p=0.1913). Mean symptom scores over time significantly favored afatinib over chemotherapy for cough and dyspnea.[i]

Health-related QoL was measured using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, which evaluated global health status/QoL (overall well-being) in addition to physical, cognitive, role, social and emotional functioning.[ii] Of these six measures, patients treated with afatinib experienced improvements in their global health-related quality of life and physical, cognitive and role functioning compared to chemotherapy (pdiarrhea, sore mouth and dysphagia; patients treated with cisplatin/pemetrexed reported worse scores for fatigue, nausea and vomiting.1

"Evaluating patient-reported outcomes in lung cancer, such as health-related quality of life, can help us understand a treatment's impact beyond just following the size of the tumor," said Lecia V. Sequist, MD, MPH, medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and one of the Principal Investigators for the LUX-Lung 3 trial.

"These health-related quality of life data, in addition to previously reported efficacy and safety data, provide important insight into the potential of afatinib for patients with EGFR mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer," said Berthold Greifenberg, MD, vice president, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Oncology, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In addition to these data, results from 12 additional abstracts of Boehringer Ingelheim's investigational oncology compounds were selected for presentation at the ESMO 2012 Congress.

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.