clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00655876.

Purpose To evaluate rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) and toxicity of two neoadjuvant chemoradiation (chemoRT) regimens for T3/T4 rectal cancer in a randomized phase II study. Methods and Materials Patients with T3 or T4 rectal cancer < 12 cm from the anal verge were randomized to preoperative RT (50.4 Gy in 1.8 Gy fractions) with (1) concurrent capecitabine (1200 mg/m2/d M-F) and irinotecan (50 mg/m2 weekly × 4 doses) (arm 1), or (2) concurrent capecitabine (1650 mg/m2/d M-F) and oxaliplatin (50 mg/m2 weekly × 5 doses) (arm 2). Surgery was performed 4–8 weeks after chemoRT, and adjuvant chemotherapy 4–6 weeks after surgery. The primary endpoint was pCR rate, requiring 48 evaluable patients per arm. Results 146 patients were enrolled. Protocol chemotherapy was modified due to excessive GI toxicity after treatment of 35 patients; 96 were assessed for the primary endpoint—final regimen described above. Patient characteristics were similar for both arms. Following chemoRT, tumor downstaging was 52% and 60%, and nodal downstaging (excluding N0 patients) was 46% and 40%, for arms 1 and 2, respectively. The pCR rate for arm 1 was 10% and for arm 2 was 21%. For arms 1 and 2, respectively, preop chemoRT grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity was 9% and 4%, and grade 3/4 non-hematologic toxicity was 26% and 27%. Conclusions Preoperative chemoRT with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin for distal rectal cancer has significant clinical activity (10/48 pCRs) and acceptable toxicity. This regimen is currently being evaluated in a phase III randomized trial (NSABP R04).

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Purpose/Objectives Primary endpoint analysis of RTOG 0247 demonstrated preoperative RT with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin achieved a pCR pre-specified threshold (21%) to merit further study, whereas the RT with capecitabine plus irinotecan arm did not (10%). Secondary efficacy endpoints are reported here. Methods and Materials A randomized phase II trial evaluated preoperative RT (50.4 Gy in 1.8 Gy fractions) with two concurrent chemotherapy regimens: 1—capecitabine (1200 mg/m2/d M-F) plus irinotecan (50 mg/m2 /week × 4); and 2—capecitabine (1650 mg/m2/d M-F) plus oxaliplatin (50 mg/m2 /week × 5) for clinical T3 or T4 rectal cancer. Surgery was performed 4-8 weeks following chemoradiation, then 4-6 weeks later, adjuvant chemotherapy (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2; leucovorin 400 mg/m2; 5FU 400 mg/m2; 5FU 2400 mg/m2) every 2 weeks × 9. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated univariately by the Kaplan-Meier method. Local-regional failure (LRF), distant failure (DF), and second primary failure (SP) were estimated by the cumulative incidence method. No statistical comparisons were made between arms as each was evaluated individually. Results 104 patients (median age 57) were treated; characteristics were similar for both arms. Median follow-up for RT with capecitabine/irinotecan arm was 3.77 years and for RT with capecitabine/oxaliplatin arm was 3.97 years. Four-year DFS, OS, LRF, DF, and SP estimates for capecitabine/irinotecan arm are 68%, 85%, 16%, 24%, and 2%, respectively. The 4-year DFS, OS, LRF, DF, and SP failure estimates for capecitabine/oxaliplatin arm are 62%, 75%, 18%, 30%, and 6%, respectively. Conclusions Efficacy results for both arms are similar to other reported studies but suggest that pCR is an unsuitable surrogate for traditional survival metrics of clinical outcome. While it remains uncertain if the addition of a second cytotoxic agent enhances the effectiveness of fluorouracil plus RT, these results suggest further study of irinotecan may be warranted.

Purpose The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, trial evaluating the efficacy of GM-CSF in reducing mucosal injury and symptom burden from curative radiotherapy for head-and-neck (H&N) cancer. Methods Eligible patients with H&N cancer receiving radiation encompassing ≥ 50% of the oral cavity or oropharynx received subcutaneous GM-CSF or placebo. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the RTOG modified University of Washington H&N symptom questionnaire at baseline, 4, 13, 26 and 48 weeks from radiation initiation. Results Of 125 eligible patients, 114 were evaluable for QoL (58 GM-CSF, 56 placebo). Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and baseline symptom scores were well balanced between the treatment arms. At the end of the acute period (13 weeks) patients in both arms reported negative change in total symptom score indicating increase in symptom burden relative to baseline (mean −18.4 GM-CSF, −20.8 placebo). There was no difference in change in total symptom score (p>0.05) or change in mucous, pain, eating, or activity domain scores (p>0.01) between patients in the GM-CSF and placebo arms. Analysis limited to patients treated per protocol or with an acceptable protocol deviation also found no difference in change in total symptom score (p>0.05) or change in domain scores (p>0.01) between treatment arms. Provider assessment of acute mucositis during treatment did not correlate with patient-reported mucous domain and total symptom scores (p>0.05) Conclusion GM-CSF administered concurrently during head-and-neck radiation does not appear to significantly improve patient-reported QoL symptom burden.