DOI: 10.7910/dvn/klxzhc
title: A5264: A Randomized Evaluation of Antiretroviral Therapy Alone or with Delayed Chemotherapy versus Antiretroviral Therapy with Immediate Adjunctive Chemotherapy for Treatment of Limited Stage AIDS-KS in Resource-Limited Settings (REACT-KS) AMC 067
title: SAS transport files and associated documentation

description: Background: Mild-to-moderate AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma (KS) often responds to antiretroviral therapy (ART) alone; the role of chemotherapy is unclear. We assessed the impact of immediate vs as-needed oral etoposide (ET) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected individuals with mild-to-moderate KS initiating ART.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Methods: Chemotherapy-naive, HIV type 1–infected adults with mild-to-moderate KS initiating ART in Africa and South America were randomized to ART (tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz) alone (chemotherapy “as-needed” arm) vs ART plus up to 8 cycles of oral ET (immediate arm). Participants with KS progression on ART alone received ET as part of the as-needed strategy. Primary outcome was ordinal as follows: failure, stable, and response at 48 weeks. Secondary outcomes included time to initial KS progression, KS-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (KS-IRIS), and KS response.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Results: Of 190 randomized participants (as-needed = 94, immediate = 96), the majority were men (71%) and African (93%). Failure (53.8% vs 56.6%), stable (16.3% vs 10.8%), and response (30% vs 32.5%) did not differ between arms (as-needed vs immediate) among those with week 48 data potential (N = 163, P = .91). Time to KS progression (P = .021), KS-IRIS (P = .003), and KS response (P = .003) favored the immediate arm. Twenty-five participants died (13%). Mortality, adverse events, CD4+ T-cell changes, and HIV RNA suppression were similar at 48 weeks.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Conclusions: Among HIV-infected adults with mild-to-moderate KS, immediate ET provided early, nondurable clinical benefits. By 48 weeks, no clinical benefit was observed compared to use of ET as needed. Mortality was high and tumor response was low.
description: USING THE SAS FILES: The SAS transport file (.trn) contains the datasets for this study. 

To use the unpacking program provided (unpack.sas), place the program and the SAS transport (.trn) file in the same directory, then run unpack.sas using SAS. The files will unpack into that directory.

Please note that the unpacking program must be used because of the way SAS handles transferring datasets from one computer system to another. A file named format.values.lst is provided to provide information about SAS formats.

NOTES ABOUT THE DE-IDENTIFIED FILES: The data are de-identified so that no original identifiers are included in the data files. 

In order to de-identify data for public use, all dates have been converted to the number of days from a reference date.

The SAS labels specify the start day for the calculation of the number of days in the variable. 

All site and institution information has been removed. 

Also, any other variable that has been deemed inappropriate to include in these public use datasets has been removed. 

This might limit how the files can be used. The de-identification process has been done in response to current regulatory requirements. 

RAW DATA FILES: The zip file contains comma separated value (.csv) files for this study.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Additional information concerning the data can be found in the file documentation files and metadata.csv.