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Rheumatological Evaluation of Anastrozole and Letrozole as Adjuvant Treatment in Post-menopausal Women With Breast Cancer

Phase 4
Completed
Conditions
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT00688909
Lead Sponsor
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Brief Summary

This study will evaluate whether patients who are intolerant and discontinue anastrozole due to grade 2-3 arthralgia-myalgia have a decrease in rheumatological symptoms while taking letrozole

Detailed Description

This is a multi-center prospective non-randomized single arm, open label trial in postmenopausal HR positive early breast cancer patients who experience grade 2-3 arthralgia-myalgia while on anastrozole, resulting in the discontinuation of anastrozole. After a 2-3 week period without any aromatase inhibitor treatment, eligible patients will initiate letrozole treatment at a dose of 2.5mg per day for a duration of 24 weeks. If a patient has breast cancer recurrence or is intolerant to letrozole during the 24 week period, the drug will be discontinued.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
261
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Postmenopausal women with HR+ early stage breast cancer at the time of initial diagnosis. For study purposes, postmenopausal is defined as:

    • Age ≥ 50 y and amenorrheic for 12 or more months.
    • Age ≥ 50 y and amenorrheic for 3 or more months after receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.
    • Age < 50 y and amenorrheic for 12 or more months.
    • Prior bilateral oophorectomy.
    • Prior hysterectomy and has postmenopausal levels of FSH, LH, and estradiol as per local institutional standards.
    • Age > 55 y and prior hysterectomy.
  2. Patients who are intolerant and discontinue anastrozole 2-3 weeks prior to study entry when given as adjuvant treatment for HR+ early stage breast cancer due to grade 2-3 (NCI-CTCAE V3) arthralgia-myalgia.

  3. Hormone receptor-positive tumors as defined by institutional standards.

  4. ECOG performance status of 0, 1, or 2

  5. Consent to participate in the trial. -

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Exclusion Criteria
  1. Postmenopausal women with HR+ metastatic or locally relapsed breast cancer excluding chest wall recurrence with no evidence of systemic disease.
  2. Recent history of pain associated with non-traumatic bone fracture.
  3. Pain requiring chronic use of analgesics (due to any reason).
  4. History of rheumatological disease except osteoarthritis.
  5. Prior hormonal therapy with AIs other than anastrozole.
  6. Systemic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) less than 4 weeks before study entry other than Estring®, Vagifem® or low dose estrogen vaginal cream.
  7. Concomitant disease which significantly affects quality of life.
  8. Patient unable to complete self administered questionnaire.
  9. Patients unable to sign consent form.

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply

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Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
LetrozoleletrozoleParticipants received 2.5 milligram (mg) of Letrozole tablets orally once daily (QD) for a period of 24 weeks.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Number of Participants Discontinuing Due to Grade 2 or Higher Arthralgia-myalgia.End of Study (24 weeks)

The arthralgia status and the myalgia status were separately graded at Baseline (V1), Week 12 (V3) , and Week 24/EOS (V4). The grades of 0 for no pain, 1 for mild pain, 2 for moderate pain, 3 for severe pain, and 4 for disabling pain were used.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Time to Discontinuation Due to Grade 2 or Higher Arthralgia- Myalgia.End of Study (24 weeks)

For patients who discontinued from the study due to either grade 2 or higher arthralgia-myalgia, the time to discontinuation was calculated as the duration between the Visit 1 date and the last dose date. If the last dose date was missing, the EOS date was used.

Percentage of Participants Discontinuing, Irrespective of CauseEnd of Study (24 weeks)

The percentage of patients who discontinued from the study irrespective of the reasons.

Change in Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Composite ScoreBaseline, 24 weeks (End of Study)

The BPI is a pain assessment tool for use with cancer patients. The BPI measures both the intensity of pain (sensory dimension) and interference of pain in the patient's life (reactive dimension). It also queries the patient about pain relief, pain quality, and patient perception of the cause of pain. The BPI composite score was calculated based on questions 3 to 6 of the BPI Questionnaire (short form). First each question was scored from 0 (no pain) to 10 (pain as bad as you can imagine) and circled on the CRF. Then a composite score was calculated as the mean of the scores. If any answer was missing, the composite score was set to missing. Change in BPI composite score indicates the change from baseline at week 24.

Change in Disability Index as Assessed by Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)Baseline, Visit 1(24 weeks = End of Study)

The HAQ is a validated, patient-oriented outcome assessment instrument. The short version '2 page HAQ' was used. It contains the HAQ Disability Index (HAQ-DI), the HAQ visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the VAS patient global health scale. The Stanford HAQ 20-item disability scale was utilized for scoring of the Disability Index. The items were first scored within each category with values 0 to 3 (0 = Without any difficulty, 1 = With some difficulty, 2 = With much difficulty, 3 = Unable to do). The score for the disability index was the mean of the eight category scores. If more than 2 of the 8 categories, or \>25%, were missing, the scale was not scored. If ≤2 of the categories were missing, the sum of the categories was divided by the number of answered categories. Change in Disability Index indicates the change from baseline at week 24.

Change in Pain as Assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) Scale of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)Baseline, Visit 1 (24 weeks = End of Study)

The HAQ is a validated, patient-oriented outcome assessment instrument. The short version '2 page HAQ' was used. It contains the HAQ Disability Index (HAQ-DI), the HAQ visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the VAS patient global health scale. The VAS is a tool used to help a person rate the intensity of certain sensations and feelings, such as pain. The visual analog scale for pain is a straight line with one end meaning no pain and the other end meaning the worst pain imaginable. For pain intensity, the scale is most commonly anchored by "no pain" (score of 0) and "pain as bad as it could be" or "worst imaginable pain" (score of 100 \[100-mm scale\]). A higher score indicates greater pain intensity. Change in pain as assessed by VAS indicates the change from baseline at week 24.

Trial Locations

Locations (48)

Tenessee Oncology

🇺🇸

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Cancer Care of Kansas

🇺🇸

Wichita, Kansas, United States

Augusta Oncology

🇺🇸

Augusta, Georgia, United States

Hematology-Oncology Assoc of Northern New Jersey

🇺🇸

Morristown, New Jersey, United States

Lynn Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Boca Raton, Florida, United States

Maryland Hematology Oncology Associates, PA

🇺🇸

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Hematology Oncology Asssociates of Ohio & Michigan

🇺🇸

Lambertville, Michigan, United States

Hematology Oncology Services of Arkansas

🇺🇸

Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Aptium Oncology - Comprehensive Cancer Care of the Desert

🇺🇸

Palm Springs, California, United States

Center for Cancer Care and Research

🇺🇸

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

Mercy Hospital

🇺🇸

Portland, Maine, United States

Front Range Specialist

🇺🇸

Fort Collins, Colorado, United States

Northeast Georgia Cancer Care, LLC

🇺🇸

Athens, Georgia, United States

Broom Oncology

🇺🇸

Binghamton, New York, United States

Oncology Specialist of North Georgia

🇺🇸

Gainesville, Georgia, United States

The West Clinic

🇺🇸

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Memorial Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Hollywood, Florida, United States

Palm Beach Cancer Specialists

🇺🇸

West Palm Beach, Florida, United States

Coastal Bend Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Corpus Christi, Texas, United States

Medical Oncology & Hematology Associates of Northern Virginia

🇺🇸

Fairfax, Virginia, United States

Rockingham Memorial Hospital Regional Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States

Mercey Hospital

🇺🇸

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States

Peninsula Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Newport News, Virginia, United States

Cancer Care of W. NC

🇺🇸

Asheville, North Carolina, United States

Berks Hematology Oncology

🇺🇸

West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Oncology Alliance

🇺🇸

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, United States

Center for Oncology Research and Treatment

🇺🇸

Dallas, Texas, United States

Mukesh Bhatt, MD, INC.

🇺🇸

Medina, Ohio, United States

South Carolina Oncology Associates

🇺🇸

Columbia, South Carolina, United States

Green Bay Oncologist, St Vincent Hospital

🇺🇸

Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States

Clearview Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Huntsville, Alabama, United States

Ballas Cancer Center, LLC DBA - St Louis

🇺🇸

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

Central Utah Clinic

🇺🇸

American Fork, Utah, United States

Suburban Hospital Cancer Program

🇺🇸

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Somerset Hematology & Oncology

🇺🇸

Somerville, New Jersey, United States

Grass Valley Hematology Oncology

🇺🇸

Grass Valley, California, United States

Bay Area Cancer Research Group

🇺🇸

Pleasant Hill, California, United States

Florida Cancer Specialists

🇺🇸

Fort Myers, Florida, United States

Edward H. Kaplan MD & Associates - North Shore Cancer Research Associates

🇺🇸

Skokie, Illinois, United States

Evanston Northwestern Hospital

🇺🇸

Evanston, Illinois, United States

Cooper University Hospital

🇺🇸

Voorhees, New Jersey, United States

Southeast Nebraska Hematology & Oncology Consultants

🇺🇸

Lincoln, Nebraska, United States

Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Washington, North Carolina, United States

Summa Health System

🇺🇸

Akron, Ohio, United States

Northern Utah Associates

🇺🇸

Ogden, Utah, United States

The Cancer Instiute at Alexian Brothers

🇺🇸

Elk Grove Village, Illinois, United States

Kentuckiana Cancer Institute

🇺🇸

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

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