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Methodology Overview Paul G. Richardson, MD Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Clinical Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston MA. Common clinical endpoints. Response rates Response criteria M-protein reduction alone EBMT
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Methodology Overview Paul G. Richardson, MD Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Clinical Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston MA
Common clinical endpoints • Response rates • Response criteria • M-protein reduction alone • EBMT • IMW Uniform criteria • Response criteria by different trial groups • Time to event measures • Duration of response • TTP: time to progression • PFS: progression free survival • EFS: event free survival • OS: overall survival • Time to next therapy • Treatment free interval
Response rates • First evidence of clinical activity Response Criteria • M-protein reduction alone • EBMT response criteria • Developed by Bladé et al 1998 for transplant trials • Millennium is the first to adopt this criteria in MM trials (SUMMIT) • IMWG uniform criteria • Durie et al 2006 • Attempt to standardize response assessment • Response criteria by different trial groups • SWOG criteria • ECOG criteria • IFM criteria
Measuring CR: EBMT vs Uniform Criteria *IHC: immunohistochemistry; IFR: immunofluorescence. †Presence/absence of clonal cells based on k/l ratio (abnormal ratio is k/l of >4:1 or <1:2). Bladé et al. Br J Haematol 1998;102:1115-23 Durie et al., Leukemia 2006
Measuring progression: EBMT vs Uniform Criteria *IHC: immunohistochemistry; IFR: immunofluorescence. †Presence/absence of clonal cells is based on k/l ratio (abnormal ratio is k/l of >4:1 or <1:2). Bladé et al. Br J Haematol 1998;102:1115-23 Durie et al., Leukemia 2006
Time to Event: Definitions Durie et al: “Intl Uniform Response Criteria for MM” Leukemia 2006
PD from CR PD from PR: An illustration based on APEX M-protein ≥ 25%/+5 g/L TNT TNT 50-100% M-protein 0 - Immunofixation + Immunofixation *TNT: Time to Next Therapy Niesvizky et al., IMW 2007 Richardson et al, JNCI 2008
Time to event measures: TTP alone may not truly reflect overall clinical benefit • CR penalty: progression from CR ≠ progression from PR (≥25% M protein increase that must also be ≥ 5g/L) • Sensitive definition of relapse from CR by EBMT may lead to paradoxically shorter duration of remission • Subset analysis of a large phase 3 APEX study (Niesviezky et al., IMW 2007) showed patients with CR had comparable TTP to those with PR (9.7m vs 9.5m), but much longer TNT* (27m vs 14m) • Definition: typically defined from randomization or first dose to progression • Measuring from diagnosis may lead to longer TTP • Assessment schedule: longer TTP if measured less frequently • Measuring less frequently may lead to longer TTP • Stringent criteria/centralized laboratory/algorithm based analysis • More stringent assessment may lead to shorter TTP • Type of analysis: intent-to-treat (ITT) is the most robust analysis • Excluding certain patient groups may lead to bias • Other factors • Patient baseline characteristics: age, ISS staging, renal function, cytogenetics, etc. • Length of treatment (defined treatment duration vs treating to progression, maintenance) Bladé et al. BJH 1998 Richardson et al, JNCI 2008 *TNT: Time to Next Therapy
Long term F/U matters: CREST example 1.0 mg/m2 (N=28) 1.3 mg/m2 (N=26) Jagannath et al. ASH 2007
Methodological considerations: Summary • Long-term survival is the ultimate goal of treatment • Interpretation of survival needs to be based on mature data with longer follow-up • CR can be considered a surrogate endpoint for survival • Strong association with prolonged survival • First step towards potential cure • PFS/EFS/TTP are highly sensitive to definition and measurements, thus caution should be exercised when comparing PFS/EFS/TTP across studies • Clinicians should be aware that shorter-than-expected TTP may in fact be associated with longer TNT* or TFI**; the latter measures better reflect patient benefit • OS is a hard endpoint and precise end point, not subject to bias • CR now can be more consistently defined and objectively measured, as such, it can be considered a more reliable endpoint similar to OS *TNT: time to next therapy **TFI: treatment-free interval
SD MR PR VGPR CR What is CR? • NCI: The disappearance of all signs of cancer in response to treatment. This does not always mean the cancer has been cured • In multiple myeloma: there is heterogeneity in response criteria. CR is generally defined as the absence of M-protein in serum and urine, disappearance of soft tissue plasmacytomas, no evidence of progression in bone lesions, and in most cases documentation of <5% clonal plasma cells in a bone marrow sample
Path to cure Ineffective treatment Dexamethasone Alkylators Tumor Volume → High-Dose Therapy Limit ofdetection Goal of newertherapy options Time → Ultimate goal: Cure
CR in SCT setting • Outcomes of 4990 HDT/SCT pts (21 studies) according to best response were reported • Majority of studies show correlation between maximal response (CR/nCR/VGPR), long-term outcomes (OS & EFS/PFS) • Two meta-analyses: both show highly significant associations • One based on p-values • One based on primary response, outcome data van de Velde et al. Haematologica 2007
+ Median not available, OS calculated from 2yr (San Miguel), 3yr (Palumbo) and 5yr (Zervas) estimates CR in non-transplant setting • Medline/OVID search from 1980 – Mar 2008 • 13 studies (4396 pts) meeting the criteria: randomized comparative trials in newly diagnosed MM reporting CR or CR/nCR, survival (either median survival or survival rate) • Percent improvement in survival for each percent increase in CR/nCR rate was calculated for each study • 5 of 13 studies failed to show association: primarily due to the confounding effect of a therapy that generates high CR and is simultaneously too toxic • Two polarizing impact of a therapy on survival (higher CR leading to longer survival vs higher toxicity leading to shorter survival) confounds analysis
PD from CR PD from PR: An illustration based on APEX M-protein ≥ 25%/+5 g/L TNT TNT 50-100% M-protein 0 - Immunofixation + Immunofixation *TNT: Time to Next Therapy Niesvizky et al., IMW 2007
CR PR VGPR All Pts MR NR CR (n=27) VGPR (n=31) PR (n=77) MR (n=21) NR (n=159) All Bz Pts (n=315) CR in APEX Niesviezky et al. IMW 2007
VISTA: highest CR reported in phase III setting • VISTA confirms high CR rate reported in ph I/II VMP study (IF- CR 32%) • 3 year survival for VMP ph I/II study was 85%, highest reported in non-transplant setting 1 Blade et al, BJH 1998; San Miguel et al., ASH 2007 Mateos et al., Haematologica 2008 *measured in serum or urine by centralized laboratory
Why some studies fail to show correlation • Small sample size • Small difference to date • Low CR/nCR rates (most <10%) with older/conventional therapies (≥20% CR in transplant setting) make it harder to detect meaningful difference • Contribution to survival by CR (quality of response) is relatively small, leading to inconsistent findings • Confounding factors • Some therapies have two polarizing effect: they generate higher CR (leading to longer survival) but are also associated with higher toxicity (leading to shorter survival) • Subsequent therapies: studies stopping early or cross-over studies reduce or confound the impact of experimental therapies; patients from comparator arm receive different subsequent therapies • Unidentified confounding factors: heterogeneity of myeloma as a disease (MGUS, subset of myeloma with more indolent course of disease, tumor stem cells) Bottom Line • Survival is a multi-factorial measure, confounded by numerous factors, including baseline patient and disease characteristics, study design, type of therapies, and subsequent therapies • All things being equal, it’s better to have CR
CRs are better • “ASH/FDA Workshop on Clinical Endpoints in Multiple Myeloma” held in October 2006, published in 2007 (Anderson et al, Leukemia 2007) • CR rate is recommended as an additional registration endpoint • NCCN MM guideline • Attainment of CR is important for survival benefit • CR associated with better outcomes such as longer PFS/EFS and OS in both transplant and non-transplant setting • Growing body of evidence, both in the transplant and non-transplant setting, demonstrate CR is associated with greater clinical benefit, including prolonged survival • Higher CR associated with improved OS with high-dose therapy/stem cell transplantation • Higher CR associated with improved OS with novel therapies (eg MPT, VMP) • Landmark analysis, retrospective analysis show improved OS in CR pts • Evidence provides strong support for the association; only a minority of studies fail to show the correlation • Negative studies are primarily due to the polarizing effect of a specific therapy that generates higher CR and is simultaneously too toxic • From a statistical point, even on tried and true facts, there will be small number of studies with disparate results, either due to insufficient sample size and/or chance
TTP Subgroup Analysis Favors MP Favors VMP VISTA: highest level of evidence and consistency of results • Largest MM study ever conducted • Highest CR rate reported in phase III setting • Rapid and durable responses for all responding patients • Duration of response: 19.9 mos (24 mos for CR) • Consistency of results: CR similar to phase I/II rate (phase I/II study had highest 3-yr survival rate reported in non-transplant setting) *Odds ratio
Summary • Comprehensive literature review of large randomized studies, both in transplant and non-transplant, demonstrate strong association of CR with prolonged survival • Small number of studies fail to show association, primarily due to polarizing effect of a therapy that generates high CR and is simultaneously too toxic • All things being equal, CR preferred • High level of evidence and consistency of evidence with bortezomib-based therapies • Unprecedented CR • Rapid and durable responses • Associated extended survival (Mateos et al: VMP ~ highest 3-yr survival rate of 85% reported in non-transplant setting)
Key references • Attal M, Harousseau J-L, Facon T, et al. Single verses double autologous stem-cell transplantation for multiple myeloma. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:2495-2502. • Attal M, Harousseau J-L, Stoppa A-M, et al. A prospective, randomized trial of autologous bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy in multiple myeloma. N Engl J Med. 1996;335:91-97. • Child JA, Morgan GJ, Davies FE, et al. High-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem-cell rescue for multiple myeloma. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1875-1883 • Harousseau J-L, Attal M, Divine M, et al. Autologous stem cell transplantation after first remission induction treatment in multiple myeloma: a report of the French registry on autologous transplantation in multiple myeloma. Blood. 1995;85:3077-3085. • Kyle RA, Leong T, Li S, et al. Complete response in multiple myeloma. Cancer. 2006;106:1958-1966 • Van del Velde HJK, Liu X, Chen G, et al. The correlation between complete response and long-term survival and progression-free survival in patients treated with high-dose therapy for multiple myeloma. Haematologica. 2007;92:1399-1406 • Cavo M, Tosi P, Zamagni E, et al. Prospective, randomized study of single compared with double autologous stem-cell transplantation for multiple myeloma: Bologna 96 clinical study. J Clin Oncol. 2007; 25:2434-2441 • Pineda-Roma M, Zangari M, Haessler J, et al. Sustained complete remissions in multiple myeloma linked to bortezomib in total therapy 3: comparison with total therapy 2. British Journal of Haematology. 2008;140:625-634 • Niesviezky R, Richardson PG, Rajkumar SV, et al. Relationship between quality of response to bortezomib and clinical benefit in the APEX trial. IMW 2007