Perioperative FLOT plus ramucirumab for resectable esophagogastric adenocarcinoma: A randomized phase II/III trial of the German AIO and Italian GOIM

Thorsten O Goetze, Ralf-Dieter Hofheinz, Timo Gaiser, Harald Schmalenberg, Dirk Strumberg, Eray Goekkurt, Stefan Angermeier, Thomas Zander, Hans G Kopp, Daniel Pink, Gabriele Siegler, Michael Schenk, Ferdinando de Vita, Gennaro Galizia, Evaristo Maiello, Wolf O Bechstein, Moustafa Elshafei, Maria Loose, Disorn Sookthai, Tanita BrulinClaudia Pauligk, Nils Homann, Salah-Eddin Al-Batran

Research output: Contribution to journalOriginal Articlepeer-review

Abstract

This multicenter, randomized phase II/III study evaluated the addition of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitor ramucirumab to FLOT as perioperative treatment for resectable esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. Patients received either FLOT alone (Arm A) or combined with ramucirumab followed by ramucirumab monotherapy (Arm B). The primary endpoint for the phase II portion was the pathological complete or subtotal response (pCR/pSR) rate. Baseline characteristics were comparable between both arms with a high rate of tumors signet-ring cell component (A:47% B:43%). No between-arm difference in pCR/pSR rate was seen (A:29% B:26%), therefore the transition to phase III was not pursued. Nevertheless, the combination was associated with a significantly increased R0-resection rate compared with FLOT alone (A:82% B:96%; P = .009). In addition, the median disease-free survival was numerically improved in Arm B (A:21 months B:32 months, HR 0.75, P = 0.218), while the median overall survival was similar in both treatment arms (A:45 months B:46 months, HR 0.94, P = 0.803). Patients with Siewert type I tumors receiving transthoracic esophagectomy with intrathoracic anastomosis showed an increased risk of serious postoperative complications after ramucirumab treatment, therefore recruitment of those patients was stopped after the first-third of the study. Overall, surgical morbidity and mortality was comparable, whereas more non-surgical grade ≥ 3 adverse events were observed with the combination, especially anorexia (A:1% B:11%), hypertension (A:4% B:13%) and infections (A:19% B:33%). The combination of ramucirumab and FLOT as perioperative treatment shows efficacy signals, particularly in terms of R0 resection rates, for a study population with a high proportion of prognostically poor histological subtypes, and further evaluation in this subgroup seems warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)153-163
Number of pages11
JournalINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER
Volume153
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2023

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Adenocarcinoma/drug therapy
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects
  • Esophageal Neoplasms/drug therapy
  • Esophagogastric Junction/pathology
  • Fluorouracil
  • Leucovorin
  • Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • Ramucirumab

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