Conditions: Esophageal Cancer Gastric Cancer
Keywords: Advanced
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 64
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Anti-angiogenic therapy is a proven therapeutic target in refractory gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. This trial assessed whether the addition of a high affinity angiogenesis inhibitor, ziv-aflibercept, could improve the efficacy of first-line mFOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and bolus plus infusional 5- fluorouracil) chemotherapy in metastatic esophagogastric adenocarcinoma.

In this study (ZAMEGA), patients with treatment-naïve esophagogastric adenocarcinoma were randomly assigned 2:1 in a multicenter, placebo-controlled double-blind trial to receive first-line mFOLFOX6 with or without ziv-aflibercept 4mg/kg every 2 weeks. Randomization was stratified by ECOG performance status (0-1 vs. 2) and primary site of disease (esophagus or GE junction vs stomach).

Detailed description:
In patients with esophagogastric cancer, mFOLFOX6 is considered standard of care. Every person has molecules in their bloodstream called vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs). These molecules help grow and sustain new blood vessels needed by the human body. Cancer tumors hijack this mechanism because they need new blood vessels and oxygen to grow. Ziv-aflibercept is an antibody, a "targeted therapy" called a "VEGF Trap", that "traps" (binds) these VEGFs and prevents the cancer from using them to grow. Ziv-aflibercept has recently been approved by the FDA for patients with treatment-resistant colorectal cancer. Patients who received standard 5-fluoruracil based chemotherapy pus ziv-aflibercept lived significantly longer than those patients who received standard 5-fluoruracil alone.

The study was designed to have an 80% power, at a 0.20 significance level, to detect a difference in 6-month progression-free survival of 15%, between 65% and 50%. A one-sided log rank test was utilized and all patients treated with at least one dose of mFOLFOX6 and ziv-aflibercept/placebo were included in the statistical analysis.

Arms:
arm 1: Patients received mFOLFOX6 and ziv-aflibercept every 2 weeks. Ziv-aflibercept 4mg/kg was given via intravenous (IV) infusion over 1 hour. Immediately following this was administration of mFOLFOX6: oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 IV and leucovorin 400 mg/m2 IV were given concurrently over 120 minutes, followed by fluorouracil 400 mg/m2 IV bolus injection and then fluorouracil 2,400 mg/m2 IV infusion over 46 hours. Patients continued on treatment until radiological or clinical progression, unacceptable toxicity, or death. arm 2: Patients received mFOLFOX6 and placebo every 2 weeks. Placebo was given via intravenous (IV) infusion over 1 hour. Immediately following this was administration of mFOLFOX6: oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 IV and leucovorin 400 mg/m2 IV were given concurrently over 120 minutes, followed by fluorouracil 400 mg/m2 IV bolus injection and then fluorouracil 2,400 mg/m2 IV infusion over 46 hours. Patients continued on treatment until radiological or clinical progression, unacceptable toxicity, or death.

Interventions: intervention 1: Oxaliplatin intervention 2: Leucovorin intervention 3: Fluorouracil intervention 4: Ziv-aflibercept
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: None intervention 2: None intervention 3: None intervention 4: None

Protocol document: