Toxicity
Adverse event related discontinuations, dose reductions and dose delays were infrequent in both treatment arms. There was also no difference in quality of life scores between groups.
Despite a 50% increase in the dose of paclitaxel, patients who received nab-paclitaxel experienced significantly less neutropenia (p<0.001)
Although the incidence of grade 3 sensory neuropathy was higher with nab-paclitaxel than with standard 3 weekly paclitaxel (10% vs 2%), the neuropathy in the nab-paclitaxel group did improve rapidly (median, 22 days) with treatment interruption.
6 patients (3%) in the nab-paclitaxel group and 8 patients (4%) in the standard 3 weekly paclitaxel group died during the study, all as a result of disease progression. No treatment related deaths occurred in the nab-paclitaxel group; 1 patient (<1%) in the standard 3 weekly paclitaxel group died of multiorgan failure, which was possibly related to treatment but may also have been a result of sepsis and/or progressive disease.r
© Journal of Clinical Oncology 2005