Objectives: Favorable phase I results justified this pilot phase II study to assess the efficacy of docetaxel/curcumin in patients with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Methods: Thirty patients with progressing CRPC and a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) received docetaxel/prednisone in standard conditions for 6 cycles in combination with per os curcumin, 6,000 mg/day (day -4 to day +2 of docetaxel). The co-primary endpoint was the overall response rate determined by PSA and target assessments. An ancillary study assessed the seric values of chromogranin A (CgA) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). Results: Twenty-six patients received the scheduled treatment, 2 progressed and 2 died before the end of treatment. A PSA response was observed in 59% of patients (14% of PSA normalization) and achieved within the first three cycles for 88% of responders. Partial response was reached for 40% of evaluable patients. The regimen was well tolerated, and no adverse event was attributed to curcumin. Twenty patients were 100% curcumin compliant. The PSA level and objective response rate were not correlated with the serum values of CgA and NSE. Conclusion: This study produced additional data on curcumin as a treatment for cancer, with a high response rate, good tolerability and patient acceptability, justifying the interest to conduct a randomized trial.

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Background Treatment of multidrug- and rifampin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) is expensive, labour-intensive, and associated with substantial adverse events and poor outcomes. While most MDR/RR-TB patients do not receive treatment, many who do are treated for 18 months or more. A shorter all-oral regimen is currently recommended for only a sub-set of MDR/RR-TB. Its use is only conditionally recommended because of very low-quality evidence underpinning the recommendation. Novel combinations of newer and repurposed drugs bring hope in the fight against MDR/RR-TB, but their use has not been optimized in all-oral, shorter regimens. This has greatly limited their impact on the burden of disease. There is, therefore, dire need for high-quality evidence on the performance of new, shortened, injectable-sparing regimens for MDR-TB which can be adapted to individual patients and different settings. Methods endTB is a phase III, pragmatic, multi-country, adaptive, randomized, controlled, parallel, open-label clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of shorter treatment regimens containing new drugs for patients with fluoroquinolone-susceptible, rifampin-resistant tuberculosis. Study participants are randomized to either the control arm, based on the current standard of care for MDR/RR-TB, or to one of five 39-week multi-drug regimens containing newly approved and repurposed drugs. Study participation in all arms lasts at least 73 and up to 104 weeks post-randomization. Randomization is response-adapted using interim Bayesian analysis of efficacy endpoints. The primary objective is to assess whether the efficacy of experimental regimens at 73 weeks is non-inferior to that of the control. A sample size of 750 patients across 6 arms affords at least 80% power to detect the non-inferiority of at least 1 (and up to 3) experimental regimens, with a one-sided alpha of 0.025 and a non-inferiority margin of 12%, against the control in both modified intention-to-treat and per protocol populations. Discussion The lack of a safe and effective regimen that can be used in all patients is a major obstacle to delivering appropriate treatment to all patients with active MDR/RR-TB. Identifying multiple shorter, safe, and effective regimens has the potential to greatly reduce the burden of this deadly disease worldwide. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02754765. Registered on 28 April 2016; the record was last updated for study protocol version 3.3, on 27 August 2019.

e16021 Background: Prostate cancer is a major problem in the aging male population. Docetaxel, the first-line reference treatment in CRPC induces a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response in 45% of patients and an objective tumor response in 12%. Preclinical studies suggested that curcuminoids inhibit tumor metastasis, invasion and angiogenesis and reverse drug resistance. We wanted to potentiate docetaxel by curcuminoïds in CRPC first line. Our previous phase I study showed the safety and the tolerability of CCM associated to docetaxel for advanced breast cancers. We have conducted in 2009-2010 a phase II study to assess the response of CRPC to this combination. Methods: Patients (n=30) with progressing CRPC and rising PSA were enrolled to receive the experimental treatment. Docetaxel was given in standard conditions (75mg/m², 1h i.v infusion every 3 weeks for 6 cycles + prednisolone) with CCM orally at the dose of 6gr/day (7 days by cycle: d-4 to d+2). The primary endpoint was response rate assessed by biological and paraclinical examinations. The secondary endpoints included safety, time to progression and compliance. Twenty nine patients were evaluable on PSA assessment and 15 on RECIST criteria. Results: 26 patients received the treatment totality and 4 withdrew prematurely. No patient withdrew for toxicity (2 deaths and 2 PSA progressions). A PSA response was observed in 17/29 patients (59%) (4 complete and 13 partial) observed rapidly (before the 3rd cycle) for 15 patients. The median time to subsequent PSA progression (TTP) was 5.8 months. Six patients (40%) had a partial objective response and 9 (60%) a stable disease. The median TTP on targets was 7.85 months (n=13/15). The regimen was well tolerated, with uncommon grade 3/4 toxicity; no adverse event was attributed to CCM. Of 169 cycles, 150 (89%) were completed with perfect compliance. Overall survival was 19 months (mean) and 24 months (median) with 17 events as of december 2012. Conclusions: These results are promising in improving the response rate to docetaxel in terms of both PSA decrease and objective response, with good tolerability and acceptability of CCM. A randomized trial is necessary to confirm this results. Clinical trial information: NCT01012141.

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