Quality of Life under Capecitabine (Xeloda®) in Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Data from a German Non-Interventional Surveillance Study

Abstract

Aim: This non-interventional surveillance study (NIS) collected data on the quality of life (QoL) of patients treated with capecitabine as mono- or combination chemotherapy in an outpatient setting. Methods: Capecitabine was administered orally for 14 days of each 21-day cycle. The main parameters of interest were QoL, compliance, patient and physician satisfaction, handling of hand-foot syndrome (HFS), and efficacy. The statistics were descriptive; some differences were compared using confidence intervals (CIs). Results: 735 patients from 161 centers received at least 1 dose of capecitabine. The median duration of observation was 5.5 months overall. The QoL global score was 53% (mean from the entire study population at all times), without any correlation to HFS. The overall response rate (ORR) was 35.1%, and the disease control rate (DCR) 64.4%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was overall 6.81 months (95% CI 6.32-7.63 months) and it was significantly higher in patients with HFS (8.4 months, 95% CI 7.5-9.2 months, hazard ratio (HR) 0.60; p < 0.0001). The safety and tolerability of capecitabine were considered acceptable. The HFS incidence (all grades) was 27.1%. Conclusions: Capecitabine had a favorable risk-benefit relation in outpatient therapy. The QoL remained stable over the course of the investigation, indicating good compliance. HFS was a strong predictor of longer PFS and had no negative impact on the global QoL.

Valproic acid potentiates the anticancer activity of capecitabine in vitro and in vivo in breast cancer models via induction of thymidine phosphorylase expression

“…Recently the phase III study leading to the approval of Eribulin mesylate (eribulin), a novel microtubule dynamics inhibitor, as single agent in metastatic breast cancer, demonstrated that eribulin was not shown to be superior to capecitabine with regard to overall survival, progression-free survival or health-related quality of life [ 50 , 51 ]. Overall, although several novel drugs are currently available, capecitabine remains one of the most effective and used drugs in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer [ 52 ].…”

Health-related quality of life in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer treated with eribulin mesylate or capecitabine in an open-label randomized phase 3 trial

“…Capecitabine is widely considered to be a chemotherapy drug with manageable toxicity and a favorable risk:benefit profile in patients with MBC [ 25 , 26 ]. It is often used as a first-line treatment in older and frail patients to achieve disease control without significant side-effects [ 25 , 27 ].…”

BCSC-1 suppresses human breast cancer metastasis by inhibiting NF-κB signaling

“…Despite substantial progress in improving diagnostic and therapeutic methods in recent years, breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in women; and there were >500,000 mortalities in 2011 according to the World Health Organization statistics (2). Previous research suggests that recurrent metastasis in patients with breast cancer remains incurable and only 3% of cases can achieve complete remission for >5 years (3). The malignant biological behavior of breast cancer is regulated by multiple genes.…”