Survival-adjusted health-related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving paclitaxel plus bevacizumab versus paclitaxel alone: results from Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Study 2100 (E2100)

Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2011 Dec;130(3):855-61. doi: 10.1007/s10549-011-1725-6. Epub 2011 Aug 27.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQL) among women with metastatic breast cancer treated on E2100 with paclitaxel or paclitaxel plus bevacizumab. Trial participants (N = 670) completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) pre-treatment and following 4 and 8 cycles of treatment to assess HRQL and breast cancer-specific concerns. A significantly higher proportion of missing FACT-B assessments was observed among patients receiving paclitaxel only, due to faster time to death. To account for this non-ignorable pattern of missing data, we conducted a survival-adjusted HRQL analysis by jointly modeling the longitudinal HRQL outcome and time to non-ignorable dropout using a two-stage model. FACT scores assessing HRQL did not differ following 4 and 8 cycles of treatment; however mean scores on the 9-item Breast Cancer Scale were significantly higher after 4 and 8 cycles of treatment among patients receiving paclitaxel plus bevacizumab. No differences were observed between treatment arms on FACT-B total scores. The addition of bevacizumab was not associated with additional side effect burden from the patient perspective and was associated with a greater reduction in breast cancer-specific concerns. No other differences were noted.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase III
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Bevacizumab
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Paclitaxel / therapeutic use*
  • Quality of Life*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Bevacizumab
  • Paclitaxel