Trevor M. Feinstein, MD, spoke about how quality of life was improved for patients with EGFR wild-type stage IIIB/IV non–small cell lung cancer receiving plinabulin in addition to docetaxel the phase 3 DUBLIN-3 trial.
At the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Trevor M. Feinstein, MD, a medical oncologist in hematology and internal medicine at the Piedmont Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, spoke with CancerNetwork® about the phase 3 DUBLIN-3 trial (NCT02504489) which analyzed patients with EGFR wild-type, stage IIIB/IV non–small cell lung cancer receiving docetaxel with or without plinabulin.1,2 Results of the trial indicated that patients in the plinabulin group has better efficacy and safety outcomes. Quality of life—as measured using European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Core 30 (QLQ-C30) questionnaire and the modular lung cancer supplement QLQ-LC13—was also improved with the addition of plinabulin to docetaxel.
Transcript:
There were 2 ways we looked at quality life. At ESMO [the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress], we presented with QTWiST, which is quality-adjusted time without symptoms [of disease of toxicity] before progression.3 We saw with the addition of plinabulin to docetaxel, the quality-of-life QTWiST has increased by over 18%. Now, at this year’s ASCO, we looked at patient-reported outcomes of quality life and the 2 different measures there. In the first 10 cycles, we didn’t find any difference in the quality of life. Between cycles 10 and 20, you start to see the curve separating and by cycle 20 they became significant. Now, we saw that patients who received plinabulin had less coughing, dysphasia, and sore throat. You did see that with the additional plinabulin and there was increased hemoptysis. What I also found interesting is that patients who received plinabulin received more cycles of docetaxel and there was no reported increase in neuropathy despite getting more cycles of docetaxel. Otherwise, the quality of life we saw earlier at ESMO [resulted in] decreased neutropenia with addition of plinabulin.
These data support less restrictive clinical trial eligibility criteria for those with metastatic NSCLC. This is especially true regarding both targeted therapy and immunotherapy treatment regimens.