(Head and Neck Cancer) Nivolumab Shows Better Quality of Life — ESMO 2016

Nivolumab vs. Physician's Choice: Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer

• October 31, 2016
• Reading time: 2 minutes

This month's final article shares head and neck cancer treatment information from ESMO 2016. Similar data were presented at ASCO 2016 — for patients who relapsed after platinum-based chemotherapy (e.g., carboplatin, cisplatin), nivolumab (Opdivo) provided better quality of life compared to physician's choice chemotherapy. This was presented by K. Harrington of the Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom.

CheckMate-141 Trial

The CheckMate-141 trial enrolled patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who relapsed within 6 months of platinum-based therapy or had metastatic disease. Patients were randomized to nivolumab or physician's choice (docetaxel [DTX], methotrexate [MTX], or cetuximab) in a Phase 3 comparative trial. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were assessed using EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-H&N35 (head and neck cancer-specific), and EQ-5D questionnaires, starting at week 9 and then every 6 weeks.

QOL Assessment Results

EORTC QLQ-C30 results: Both groups started at similar levels, but by week 15, the chemotherapy group showed notable deterioration in physical function, social functioning, and other domains — PD-L1 status had no effect on this finding. By week 15, the chemotherapy group showed greater deterioration in symptoms such as cancer fatigue, dyspnea, and decreased appetite compared to the nivolumab group. The median time to sustained deterioration in global health status, physical function, and social functioning was more than twice as long in the nivolumab group compared to the chemotherapy group.

QLQ-H&N35 results: Again, both groups started similarly. From week 15 onward, the chemotherapy group showed worsening pain, physical abnormalities, and social impairment. The nivolumab group showed:

• 74% reduction in pain compared to the chemotherapy group
• 62% reduction in physical abnormalities
• 51% reduction in difficulty opening the mouth

EQ-5D VAS results: At the week 15 time point, the median time to health deterioration was approximately 3 times longer in the nivolumab group compared to the chemotherapy group.

Based on all three assessment tools, nivolumab demonstrated substantially higher quality of life (QOL) outcomes.

Tags: #LungCancer #HeadAndNeckCancer #Immunotherapy

• Immunotherapy
• Clinical trial drug

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