Interpreting the clinical utility of a pharmacogenomic marker based on observational association studies

The author accepted manuscript (post print) is made available in accordance with with publisher copyright policy.It is increasingly recognized that the clinical utility of a pharmacogenomic marker is a fundamental characteristic influencing the likelihood of successful clinical translation. Although appropriately designed and executed randomized controlled trials generally provide the most valid evidence for the clinical utility of a pharmacogenomic marker, such evidence may not always be available. Observational pharmacogenomic association studies are a common form of evidence available, but the assessment of clinical utility based on such evidence is often not straightforward. This paper aims to provide insight into this issue using a range of illustrative examples

Predictors of anti-VEGF drug-induced hypertension using different hypertension criteria: a secondary analysis of the COMPARZ study

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Background: There is inconsistency in the criteria used to define anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug-induced hypertension (AVEGF-HT) in published studies. It is unknown whether specific patient characteristics similarly predict AVEGF-HT using different criteria. Methods: We assessed the associations between clinical and demographic factors (n = 22) and AVEGF-HT, using six criteria based on predefined on-treatment blood pressure (BP) thresholds or absolute BP elevations versus baseline, in a post hoc analysis of a phase III trial of 1102 patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) randomized to pazopanib or sunitinib (COMPARZ study). Results: The cumulative incidence of AVEGF-HT at any time while on treatment ranged between 14.8% [criterion: grade ⩾3 toxicity, National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE) v3.0] and 58.8% (criterion: absolute systolic BP increase ⩾20 mmHg versus baseline). After adjusting for anti-VEGF treatment and baseline BP, the number of significant (p < 0.05) predictors ranged between one (criterion: absolute systolic BP increase ⩾20 mmHg, on-treatment systolic BP ⩾140 mmHg and diastolic BP ⩾90 mmHg) and nine (criterion: grade ⩾3 toxicity, NCI CTCAE v3.0). Age, use of antidiabetic drugs and use of antihypertensive drugs each significantly predicted four AVEGF-HT criteria. By contrast, sex, smoking, heart rate, proteinuria, Karnofsky performance status, and use of thiazide diuretics did not predict any criterion. Conclusions: There was a significant variability in the incidence, number and type of predictors of AVEGF-HT, using six different criteria, in a post hoc analysis of the COMPARZ study. The use of specific criteria might affect the assessment of the interaction between anti- VEGF drugs, AVEGF-HT and cancer outcomes

Risk Factors for Severe Diarrhea with an Afatinib Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Clinical Trials

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Afatinib is an effective therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but it is associated with a relatively high incidence of severe diarrhea. The association between pre-treatment candidate predictors (age, sex, race, performance status, renal function, hemoglobin, and measures of body mass) and severe (grade ≥ 3) diarrhea was evaluated using logistic regression with pooled individual participant data from seven clinical studies. A risk score was developed based on the count of major risk factors. Overall, 184 of 1151 participants (16%) experienced severe diarrhea with use of afatinib. Body weight, body mass index, and body surface area all exhibited a prominent non-linear association where risk increased markedly at the lower range (p < 0.005). Low weight (<45 kg), female sex, and older age (≥60 years) were identified as major independent risk factors (p < 0.01). Each risk factor was associated with a two-fold increase in the odds of severe diarrhea, and this was consistent between individuals commenced on 40 mg or 50 mg afatinib. A simple risk score based on the count of these risk factors identifies individuals at lowest and highest risk (C-statistic of 0.65). Risk of severe diarrhea for individuals commenced on 40 mg afatinib ranged from 6% for individuals with no risk factors to 33% for individuals with all three risk factors

In Vivo Response to Methotrexate Forecasts Outcome of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Has a Distinct Gene Expression Profile

William Evans and colleagues investigate the genomic determinants of methotrexate resistance and interpatient differences in methotrexate response in patients newly diagnosed with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

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ABSTRACT. Objective. To investigate the association between adherence to treat-to-target (T2T) protocol and disease activity, functional outcomes, and radiographic outcomes in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Data from a longitudinal cohort of patients with early RA were used. Adherence was determined at each followup visit over 3 years according to predefined criteria. The primary endpoint was remission according to Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) criteria. Functional and radiographic outcomes measured by modified Health Assessment Questionnaire and modified total Sharp score, respectively, were secondary endpoints. Results. A total of 198 patients with 3078 clinic visits over 3 years were included in this analysis. After adjusting for relevant variables, although there was no significant association between adherence to T2T and remission rate after 1 year, the associations reached significance after 3 years for both DAS28 (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.16-2.50; p = 0.006) and SDAI criteria (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.06-3.56; p = 0.033). After 3 years, adherence was also associated with improvement in physical function (β = 0.12, 95% CI 0.06-0.18; p &lt; 0.0001). None of the radiographic outcomes were associated with adherence after either 1 or 3 years, although there was a trend for higher adherence to be associated with less radiographic progression at the end of the study (p = 0.061). Conclusion. Increased adherence to T2T was associated with better longterm disease activity and functional outcomes, which suggests that the benefit of a T2T protocol may be enhanced by ensuring adequate adherence

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ABSTRACT. Objective. To investigate the association between adherence to treat-to-target (T2T) protocol and disease activity, functional outcomes, and radiographic outcomes in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Data from a longitudinal cohort of patients with early RA were used. Adherence was determined at each followup visit over 3 years according to predefined criteria. The primary endpoint was remission according to Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) criteria. Functional and radiographic outcomes measured by modified Health Assessment Questionnaire and modified total Sharp score, respectively, were secondary endpoints. Results. A total of 198 patients with 3078 clinic visits over 3 years were included in this analysis. After adjusting for relevant variables, although there was no significant association between adherence to T2T and remission rate after 1 year, the associations reached significance after 3 years for both DAS28 (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.16-2.50; p = 0.006) and SDAI criteria (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.06-3.56; p = 0.033). After 3 years, adherence was also associated with improvement in physical function (β = 0.12, 95% CI 0.06-0.18; p &lt; 0.0001). None of the radiographic outcomes were associated with adherence after either 1 or 3 years, although there was a trend for higher adherence to be associated with less radiographic progression at the end of the study (p = 0.061). Conclusion. Increased adherence to T2T was associated with better longterm disease activity and functional outcomes, which suggests that the benefit of a T2T protocol may be enhanced by ensuring adequate adherence. (J Rheumatol First Release July 15 2016; doi:10.3899/jrheum.151392