Apatinib shows promise in recurrent, metastatic head-neck cancer

In patients with recurrent or metastatic inoperable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), treatment with the novel antiangiogenic agent apatinib appears to be effective, leading to high rates of disease control, a recent study has found.

A group of researchers conducted a multicentre retrospective analysis of 53 patients who had progressed or recurred following standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy. Apatinib treatment was given and continued until further disease progression or intolerable side effects.

The primary outcome was overall survival (OS), which was calculated to have a median value of 6.6 months. Meanwhile, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.4 months. Apatinib also resulted in an objective response rate of 15.1 percent and yielded an 86.8-percent disease control rate.

In unadjusted analyses, the number of prior lines of treatment was significantly associated with PFS (third vs second line of treatment: hazard ratio [HR], 2.11, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.02–4.35; p=0.04) and OS (HR, 1.99, 95 percent CI, 1.05–3.79).

For OS, similar effects were reported for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOCG) status, tumour differentiation, and duration of medication. However, after multivariable adjustment, only ECOG status remained significantly predictive of OS (2–3 vs 0–1; HR, 2.62, 95 percent CI, 1.32–5.21; p=0.01).

In terms of safety, the most common adverse event reported was hypertension, which arose in 39.6 percent of participants. This was followed by hand-foot syndrome (32.1 percent), fatigue (32.1 percent), and oral ulcers (28.3 percent). Most side effects were grade 1 or 2 in severity.