Mehmet Asim Bilen, MD from Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University discusses the Evaluation of a novel blood pressure scoring method and its association with clinical response in cancer patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy.
Link to Study –
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24764123/
Instract
Background: In advanced cancer patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies, the aim of this study was to develop a novel blood pressure (BP) scoring method and correlate it with clinical response.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated data from 23 clinical trials involving at least one anti-VEGF agent for 368 patients. Using the standard Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0 and our latest system, BP scores were measured using both BP readings and the amount of anti-hypertensive drugs obtained by the patient. BP ratings at baseline and four months have been classified. Elevated scores were correlated with the clinical response through logistic regression analysis. An agreement was assessed between the CTCAE and the new system.
Results: Under the latest BP scoring system, partial response rates were 20 percent for four-month elevated patients versus 6 percent for non-elevated patients (P < 0.001). When adjusted for tumor type, age, sex, history of anti-VEGF treatment, and number of anti-VEGF treatments, the odds ratio was 3.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8, 8.2; P < 0.001) for elevated BP under the new scoring system. The kappa statistics were 0.57 (95 percent CI: 0.47, 0.67; P < 0.001) for agreement between the CTCAE and current scoring methods, suggesting substantial concordance.
Conclusion: The rise in BP scores was a proxy for favorable clinical response in patients receiving anti-VEGF therapy using the novel scoring system. Ultimately, this new approach offers details about the clinical tumor response over and above that given by the scoring method of CTCAE.