Effect of everolimus on survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma after failure of sorafenib: the EVOLVE-1 randomized clinical trial.

IMPORTANCE: Aside from the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib, there are no effective systemic therapies for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of everolimus in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma for whom sorafenib treatment failed. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: EVOLVE-1 was a randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study conducted among 546 adults with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B or C hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh A liver function whose disease progressed during or after sorafenib or who were intolerant of sorafenib. Patients were enrolled from 17 countries between May 2010 and March 2012. Randomization was stratified by region (Asia vs rest of world) and macrovascular invasion (present vs absent). INTERVENTIONS: Everolimus, 7.5 mg/d, or matching placebo, both given in combination with best supportive care and continued until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. Per the 2:1 randomization scheme, 362 patients were randomized to the everolimus group and 184 patients to the placebo group. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was overall survival. Secondary end points included time to progression and the disease control rate (the percentage of patients with a best overall response of complete or partial response or stable disease). RESULTS: No significant difference in overall survival was seen between treatment groups, with 303 deaths (83.7%) in the everolimus group and 151 deaths (82.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio [HR], 1.05; 95% CI, 0.86-1.27; P = .68; median overall survival, 7.6 months with everolimus, 7.3 months with placebo). Median time to progression with everolimus and placebo was 3.0 months and 2.6 months, respectively (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.75-1.15), and disease control rate was 56.1% and 45.1%, respectively (P = .01). The most common grade 3/4 adverse events for everolimus vs placebo were anemia (7.8% vs 3.3%, respectively), asthenia (7.8% vs 5.5%, respectively), and decreased appetite (6.1% vs 0.5%, respectively). No patients experienced hepatitis C viral flare. Based on central laboratory results, hepatitis B viral reactivation was experienced by 39 patients (29 everolimus, 10 placebo); all cases were asymptomatic, but 3 everolimus recipients discontinued therapy. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Everolimus did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma whose disease progressed during or after receiving sorafenib or who were intolerant of sorafenib. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01035229.

Safety and efficacy of everolimus in Chinese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma resistant to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy: an open-label phase 1b study.

BACKGROUND: In China, there are currently no approved therapies for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) following progression with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted agents. In the phase 3 RECORD-1 trial, the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor everolimus afforded clinical benefit with good tolerability in Western patients with mRCC whose disease had progressed despite VEGF receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGFr-TKI) therapy. This phase 1b study was designed to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of everolimus in VEGFr-TKI-refractory Chinese patients with mRCC. METHODS: An open-label, multicenter phase 1b study enrolled Chinese patients with mRCC who were intolerant to, or progressed on, previous VEGFr-TKI therapy (N = 64). Patients received everolimus 10 mg daily until objective tumor progression (according to RECIST, version 1.0), unacceptable toxicity, death, or study discontinuation for any other reason. The final data analysis cut-off date was November 30, 2011. RESULTS: A total of 64 patients were included in the study. Median age was 52 years (range, 19-75 years) and 69% of patients were male. Median duration of everolimus therapy was 4.1 months (range, 0.0-16.1 months). Expected known class-effect toxicities related to mTOR inhibitor therapy were observed, including anemia (64%), hypertriglyceridemia (55%), mouth ulceration (53%), hyperglycemia (52%), hypercholesterolemia (50%), and pulmonary events (31%). Common grade 3/4 adverse events were anemia (20%), hyperglycemia (13%), increased gamma-glutamyltransferase (11%), hyponatremia (8%), dyspnea (8%), hypertriglyceridemia (6%), and lymphopenia (6%). Median PFS was 6.9 months (95% CI, 3.7-12.5 months) and the overall tumor response rate was 5% (95% CI, 1-13%). The majority of patients (61%) had stable disease as their best overall tumor response. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and efficacy results were comparable to those of the RECORD-1 trial. Everolimus is generally well tolerated and provides clinical benefit to Chinese patients with anti-VEGF-refractory mRCC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01152801.

A phase I study evaluating the effect of everolimus on the pharmacokinetics of midazolam in healthy subjects.

The selective mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor everolimus has demonstrated competitive inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP) 3A4 in vitro; however, its influence on CYP3A4 activity in humans is unknown. This study examined the influence of everolimus on the pharmacokinetics of midazolam, a sensitive CYP3A4/5 substrate, and its 1-hydroxy metabolite in 25 healthy male subjects. Compared with administration of oral midazolam 4 mg/day alone, coadministration with everolimus 10 mg/day increased the midazolam maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) by 25% and the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) by 30%. The C(max) and AUC of 1-hydroxymidazolam increased by 20% and 25%, respectively. Concomitant administration of everolimus with midazolam did not change the midazolam metabolic ratio (i.e., the ratio of 1-hydroxymidazolam AUC to midazolam AUC) or the midazolam or 1-hydroxymidazolam terminal half-lives (geometric mean ratios for midazolam + everolimus vs. midazolam alone of 0.96, 1.03, and 1.06, respectively). These results suggest everolimus may affect the bioavailability, but not the systemic clearance, of orally coadministered CYP3A4 substrate drugs.

Everolimus and erlotinib as second- or third-line therapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: The epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor erlotinib is an approved treatment for chemotherapy-refractory advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because activated epidermal growth factor receptor signals through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, adding the oral mTOR inhibitor everolimus to erlotinib may improve efficacy by blocking multiple components of the same pathway. We conducted a phase I study to determine feasible dosages of combination therapy with erlotinib and everolimus for previously treated metastatic or unresectable NSCLC. METHODS: Participants had advanced NSCLC progressing after two or less previous chemotherapy regimens. Feasibility of daily/weekly everolimus plus daily erlotinib was determined using a 6 + 6 dose-escalation design based on the rate of dose-limiting toxicities. Antitumor activity was assessed by the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors study. RESULTS: Of the 94 patients enrolled, 90% had stage IV NSCLC, 19% never smoked, and 15% were current smokers. Eighty-nine patients experienced one or more adverse events possibly related to any study medication. The most common dose-limiting toxicities were stomatitis (n = 5), rash (n = 4), and diarrhea (n = 3). Maximum tolerated doses were everolimus 5 mg per day or 50 mg per week plus erlotinib 150 mg per day. In daily everolimus cohorts (n = 74), nine patients achieved a complete/partial response and 28 had stable disease (median duration disease control, 9.3 months). In weekly everolimus cohorts (n = 20), no tumor response was observed; seven patients had stable disease (median duration, 9.6 months). CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with everolimus 5 mg per day or 50 mg per week and erlotinib 150 mg per day provided acceptable tolerability and disease control. A randomized phase II study evaluating this combination in comparison with erlotinib alone is complete and is being analyzed.

Two-dose-level confirmatory study of the pharmacokinetics and tolerability of everolimus in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors.

BACKGROUND: This phase I, randomized, multicenter, open-label study investigated the pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of the oral mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors. METHODS: A total of 24 patients with advanced breast cancer (n = 6), gastric cancer (n = 6), non-small cell lung cancer (n = 6), or renal cell carcinoma (n = 6) who were refractory to/unsuitable for standard therapy were randomized 1:1 to oral everolimus 5 or 10 mg/day. Primary end points were pharmacokinetic parameters and safety and tolerability. Pharmacokinetic 24-h profiles were measured on day 15; trough level was measured on days 2, 8, 15, 16, and 22. Tolerability was assessed continuously. This final analysis was performed after all patients had received 6 months of study drug or had discontinued. RESULTS: Everolimus was absorbed rapidly; median Tmax was 3 h (range, 1-4) and 2 h (range, 0.9-6) in the 5 and 10 mg/day groups, respectively. Pharmacokinetic parameters increased dose proportionally from the 5 and 10 mg/day doses. Steady-state levels were achieved by day 8 or earlier. The most common adverse events suspected to be related to everolimus therapy were increased blood glucose (16.7% and 41.7%) and fatigue (16.7% and 33.3%) in the everolimus 5 and 10 mg/day dose cohorts, respectively. Best tumor response was stable disease in 10 (83%) and 6 (50%) patients in the 5 and 10 mg/day groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Everolimus 5 or 10 mg/day was well tolerated in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors. The observed safety and pharmacokinetic profile of everolimus from this study were consistent with previous studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Health Authorities 2008L09346.

Everolimus (Certican) 12-month safety and efficacy versus mycophenolate mofetil in de novo renal transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Everolimus is a proliferation inhibitor designed to target chronic rejection, including prevention of acute rejection. Everolimus blocks growth factor-mediated transduction signals, preventing organ rejection by a mechanism different than that of calcineurin inhibitors and of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). METHODS.: Everolimus (1.5 mg or 3 mg daily) was compared with MMF (2 g daily) in a randomized, multicenter, multinational, 12-month double-blind, double-dummy and 2-year open-label, phase 3 trial in de novo renal allograft recipients (n = 588) who also received cyclosporine and corticosteroids as part of a triple immunosuppressive regimen. RESULTS: At 12 months, there were no statistically significant differences between doses of 1.5 and 3 mg/day everolimus and MMF (2 g/day) in incidence of biopsy-proven acute rejection (23.2%, 19.7%, and 24.0%, respectively), graft loss (4.6%, 10.6%, and 9.2%), or death (5.2%, 4.0%, and 2.6%), respectively. Everolimus 1.5 mg/day and MMF were generally equally well tolerated. Both were better tolerated than everolimus 3 mg/day. The incidence of cytomegalovirus infection was significantly lower in patients receiving either 1.5 or 3 mg/day everolimus than in those receiving MMF (5.2% and 7.6% vs. 19.4%, respectively) (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Everolimus is effective in preventing acute rejection and graft loss in de novo renal allograft recipients receiving a triple immunosuppressive regimen. Prevention of acute rejection, along with reduction in cytomegalovirus infection, addresses two factors known to contribute to chronic rejection in such patients.

Everolimus with optimized cyclosporine dosing in renal transplant recipients: 6-month safety and efficacy results of two randomized studies.

Two prospective, randomized studies evaluated everolimus 1.5 vs. 3 mg/day with steroids and low-exposure cyclosporine (CsA) (C2 monitoring) in de novo renal transplant patients. Everolimus dosing was adjusted to maintain a minimum trough level of 3 ng/mL. Study 1 (A2306; n=237) had no induction therapy; in Study 2 (A2307; n=256) basiliximab was administered (Days 0 and 4). The primary endpoint was renal function at 6 months. CsA C2 target levels, initially 1200 ng/mL in Study 1 and 600 ng/mL in Study 2, were tapered over time post-transplant. Median creatinine levels in Study 1 were 133 and 132 micromol/L at 6 months in the 1.5 and 3 mg/day groups, respectively, and 130 micromol/L in both groups in Study 2. Biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR) occurred in 25.0% and 15.2% of patients in the 1.5 and 3 mg/day groups in Study 1, and 13.7% and 15.1% in Study 2. Incidence of BPAR was significantly higher in patients with an everolimus trough <3 ng/mL. There were no significant between-group differences in the composite endpoint of BPAR, graft loss or death, nor any significant between-group differences in adverse events in either study. Concentration-controlled everolimus with low-exposure CsA provided effective protection against rejection with good renal function.