The Efficacy And Safety Of Apatinib Treatment For Patients With Metastatic Or Recurrent Cervical Cancer: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib in patients with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer and treated with apatinib until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity were included in this multicenter, retrospective, observational study from January 2016 to April 2018. The primary end point was progression free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and toxicity. Toxicities were assessed according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. RESULTS: A total of 26 metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer patients were enrolled in this study. No complete response (CR) occurred, 4 patients (15.4%) showed partial response (PR), 11 patients (42.3%) had stable disease (SD), and 11 patients (42.3%) had progressive disease (PD), with DCR of 57.7% and ORR of 15.4%. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0–6.3 months) and overall survival (OS) was 7.0 months (95% CI: 5.1–8.9 months) respectively. The most common adverse effects were hand-foot syndrome (50.0%), secondary hypertension (26.9%) and fatigue (26.9%). Three patients discontinued treatment due to grade 3 toxicities (one case for hand-foot syndrome, two cases for diarrhea) and 6 patients required dose reduction because of adverse effects. CONCLUSION: Apatinib seems active in heavily-pretreated metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer. The adverse effects were moderate but manageable.