RESUMO
PURPOSE: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer with long latency and poor prognosis. The real-world treatment patterns and humanistic burden of MPM in an international cohort of patients were recently published. Spanish data are currently lacking and are reported here. METHODS/PATIENTS: Data were collected from three sources: physician-abstracted demographic, clinical and treatment characteristics of patients with MPM; patient-completed questionnaires on treatment satisfaction, symptoms, caregiver use, and impact of the disease; and caregiver-completed questionnaire reporting their activity and its impact on their daily life. RESULTS: The 241 patients in Spain were primarily elderly (median age: 67 years), male, retired/unemployed/on long-term sick leave, and diagnosed at stage IV with unresectable disease. Exposure to asbestos was detected (54%, 101/188). First-line treatment (1L) consisted primarily of doublet chemotherapy (86%, 207/241). Of 102 patients who completed 1L at data abstraction, 67 were receiving maintenance therapy, most commonly singlet chemotherapy with pemetrexed. Best supportive care was given to 29 patients, primarily after 1L (86.2%, 25/29). Symptom burden was high and health-related quality of life was poor and declined with progression: mean (SD) EQ-5D score and EQ-5D visual analogue scale score were 0.615 (0.285) and 60.8 (17.1) in 1L and 0.497 (0.370) and 56.1 (19.5) in second line. Overall, 67% of patients (162/241) required daily assistance from their caregiver, who reported an impact on their psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MPM in Spain were overall treated according to treatment guidelines at the time. Nevertheless, a considerable burden of disease was reported by patients and caregivers.
RESUMO
PURPOSE: The selective cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib was approved in Argentina in 2015 for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC) or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) based on phase III study results. The Ibrance Real World Insights (IRIS) study aims to evaluate palbociclib in patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative ABC or MBC in the real-world setting in multiple countries globally. Here we report results from patients enrolled in the IRIS study in Argentina. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective medical chart review study included postmenopausal women with confirmed HR-positive/HER2-negative ABC or MBC who were treated with palbociclib plus letrozole as first-line endocrine-based therapy or with palbociclib plus fulvestrant in women with disease progression after endocrine therapy. Participating physicians reviewed medical records of up to six patients each, collecting demographic and clinical data. Outcomes included progression-free and overall survival rates. RESULTS: Records were extracted for 162 patients in Argentina (palbociclib plus letrozole, n = 105 [65%]; palbociclib plus fulvestrant, n = 57 [35%]). The 6-month progression-free survival rate was 94% for patients treated with palbociclib plus letrozole and 95% for patients treated with palbociclib plus fulvestrant; 85% and 80% of patients treated with palbociclib plus letrozole were progression free at 12 and 18 months, respectively. Six-month survival rates were 98% for palbociclib plus letrozole and 98% for palbociclib plus fulvestrant; 93% and 89% of patients treated with palbociclib plus letrozole were alive at 12 and 18 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Results from this first real-world evaluation of clinical outcomes in Argentina suggest that palbociclib plus letrozole or fulvestrant delivers favorable effectiveness, as measured by progression-free and overall survival rates.