Phase II study of first-line sagopilone plus prednisone in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: a phase II study of the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium

BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies in prostate cancer (PC) models demonstrated the anti-tumour activity of the first fully synthetic epothilone, sagopilone. This is the first study to investigate the activity and safety of sagopilone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant PC (CRPC). METHODS: Chemotherapy-naïve patients with metastatic CRPC received sagopilone (one cycle: 16 mg m(−2) intravenously over 3 h q3w) plus prednisone (5 mg twice daily). The primary efficacy evaluation was prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate (⩾50% PSA reduction confirmed ⩾28 days apart). According to the Simon two-stage design, ⩾3 PSA responders were necessary within the first 13 evaluable patients for recruitment to continue until 46 evaluable patients were available. RESULTS: In all, 53 patients received ⩾2 study medication cycles, with high compliance. Mean individual dose was 15.1±1.4 mg m(−2) during initial six cycles, mean dose intensity 94±9%. The confirmed PSA response rate was 37%. Median overall progression-free survival was 6.4 months. The most commonly reported adverse events (>10% of patients) were peripheral neuropathy (94.3%), fatigue (54.7%) and pain in the extremities (47.2%). Sagopilone was associated with very little haematological toxicity. CONCLUSION: This study shows that first-line sagopilone has noteworthy anti-tumour activity and a clinically significant level of neuropathy for patients with metastatic chemotherapy-naïve CRPC.