nach oben

Erschienen in:

Open Access 01.12.2022 | Research article

Risk and benefit for umbrella trials in oncology: a systematic review and meta-analysis

verfasst von: Karolina Strzebonska, Mateusz Blukacz, Mateusz T. Wasylewski, Maciej Polak, Bishal Gyawali, Marcin Waligora

Erschienen in: BMC Medicine | Ausgabe 1/2022

Abstract

Background

Umbrella clinical trials in precision oncology are designed to tailor therapies to the specific genetic changes within a tumor. Little is known about the risk/benefit ratio for umbrella clinical trials. The aim of our systematic review with meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety profiles in cancer umbrella trials testing targeted drugs or a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy.

Methods

Our study was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020171494). We searched Embase and PubMed for cancer umbrella trials testing targeted agents or a combination of targeted therapies with chemotherapy. We included solid tumor studies published between 1 January 2006 and 7 October 2019. We measured the risk using drug-related grade 3 or higher adverse events (AEs), and the benefit by objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). When possible, data were meta-analyzed.

Results

Of the 6207 records identified, we included 31 sub-trials or arms of nine umbrella trials (N = 1637). The pooled overall ORR was 17.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.5–25.9). The ORR for targeted therapies in the experimental arms was significantly lower than the ORR for a combination of targeted therapy drugs with chemotherapy: 13.3% vs 39.0%; p = 0.005. The median PFS was 2.4 months (95% CI 1.9–2.9), and the median OS was 7.1 months (95% CI 6.1–8.4). The overall drug-related death rate (drug-related grade 5 AEs rate) was 0.8% (95% CI 0.3–1.4), and the average drug-related grade 3/4 AE rate per person was 0.45 (95% CI 0.40–0.50).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that, on average, one in five cancer patients in umbrella trials published between 1 January 2006 and 7 October 2019 responded to a given therapy, while one in 125 died due to drug toxicity. Our findings do not support the expectation of increased patient benefit in cancer umbrella trials. Further studies should investigate whether umbrella trial design and the precision oncology approach improve patient outcomes.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Search strategy. Table S2. Glossary of key manuscript terms. Table S3. List and characteristics of included studies. Table S4. Objective response rates and drug-related fatal toxicity rates assessed in subgroups. Fig. S1. Summary risk of bias graph of randomized sub-studies. Fig. S2. Review authors’ judgements about risk of bias of randomized sub-studies. Fig. S3. Summary risk of bias graph of all non-randomized sub-studies/arms. Fig. S4. Review authors’ judgements about risk of bias for non-randomized sub-studies/arms.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02420-2.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

AEs

Adverse events

Confidence interval

ECOG

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group

Overall survival

ORR

Objective response rate

OSF

Open Science Framework

PFS

Progression-free survival

REML

Restricted maximum likelihood

WHO

World Health Organization

Background

Precision oncology is a strategy aiming to divide cancer patients into groups that will most likely respond to a given therapy. Treatment is tailored to the molecular makeup of a tumor rather than the site or stage of disease [1].

Umbrella trials are novel trial designs commonly used in precision oncology [2, 3] defined as trials with “many different treatment arms within one trial. People are assigned to a particular treatment arm of the trial based on their type of cancer and the specific molecular makeup of their cancer” [4].

The umbrella design is a type of master protocol which allows for testing multiple agents simultaneously and may include specified modifications while the trial is ongoing [5‐10]. For example, adaptive randomization is often used to assign patients to the most effective experimental treatment based on continuous data accumulation and interim analyses [11]. These features of umbrella design are considered as having the potential to accelerate the process of drug development and maximize the benefits for trial participants [12]. Umbrella trials may be also classified as platform trials [7, 13] when participants are adaptively randomized and the protocol permits considerable flexibility to add new arms when novel targets and drugs are identified or to discontinue arms with ineffective treatments [5, 8, 10, 14]. However, some researchers argue that the prospect of patient clinical benefit from umbrella trials is limited [15‐18]. Since umbrella trials’ implementation in 2006 [19], many statistical objections [20] and ethical challenges have been identified [8, 21].

A favorable risk-benefit ratio is one of the fundamental ethical requirements of conducting research with human participants [22, 23]. The evaluation of risks and potential benefits to study participants requires a careful ethical analysis based on relevant data [24, 25]. The safety and toxicity rates of anticancer agents in standard phase I–III clinical trials have already been estimated [26‐28]. The recent analyses were focused on targeted therapies [29, 30] which play an important role in precision medicine [31]; the performance of targeted therapies is enhanced when used in combination with cytotoxic drugs [32]. However, the only RCT in precision oncology was negative for survival [33]. Yet, little is known about the risk-benefit profile for umbrella oncology trials. The objective of our systematic review with meta-analysis was to evaluate the risks and benefits in umbrella clinical trials testing targeted drugs or a combination of targeted agents with chemotherapy. Specifically, our analysis addresses four issues: (1) the utility of a new strategy of clinical trials (umbrella designs) in oncology, (2) the utility of precision oncology, (3) the utility of pooling populations across arms and across chemotherapies, and (4) the likelihood that a drug works in more than one specific population.

Methods

We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines [34, 35].

Eligibility criteria

The inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined prospectively in the study protocol [36], and they are summarized in Table 1. The key inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) cancer umbrella clinical trials as defined by the American Society of Clinical Oncology [4], platform umbrella trials, or sub-studies being a part of the cancer umbrella trial; (2) adult or mixed population studies in which at least 50% participants were ≥ 18 years; (3) patients were diagnosed with any malignancy (solid or hematological) at any stage; and (4) assessment of drug-related toxicity and/or response of targeted therapy drug/s (monoclonal antibodies or small molecules or antibody-drug conjugates [37]) or a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy regimens in at least one experimental arm or sub-trial. We excluded studies evaluating the following: (1) hormone therapies, immunotherapies (e.g., monoclonal antibodies that were also immunotherapy), or chemotherapy only regimens; (2) a combination of targeted therapy with immunotherapy (response profile in such combination is much different from targeted solo therapies, making comparisons with regimens included in the review impossible); and (3) non-pharmacological modalities (e.g., radiotherapy, surgery, stem cell therapy, or any of these, except for targeted therapy, combined with surgery).

Table 1

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Category	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
P	1. Studies in which at least 50% of participants were 18 years old or older and the study was not indicated as pediatric. 2. Patients with a single type of solid tumor or hematological malignancy at any stage	1. Pediatric studies. 2. Patients with benign tumors or other diseases only, without cancer.
I	1. Studies that test agents based on the molecular profiling of an individual patient’s tumor, defined as a method of testing genetic characteristics as well as any unique biomarkers of a cancerous tumor. The results are used to identify and create targeted therapies that work most effectively for specific cancer tumor profiles [4].	1. Studies that did not test agents based on the tumor molecular profiling.
	2. Multiple molecularly targeted therapies (monoclonal antibodies or small molecule or antibody-drug conjugates). 3. Combination of both: molecularly targeted therapies and chemotherapy. 4. Targeted therapy combined with surgery.	2. Chemotherapy only in the experimental arm—cytotoxic drug schedules, monotherapy, or polytherapy. 3. Studies in which hormone therapy, immunotherapy, surgery, or radiotherapy were the only treatment. 4. Radiotherapy or immunotherapy used together with targeted therapy. 5. Supportive care without anticancer agents and other types of drugs and treatments, i.e., antiviral agents or non-specific immunotherapy (e.g., interferon, interleukins, cytokines, immunostimulator, GM-CSF granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor), cancer vaccine, and oncolytic virus therapy.
	5. Drugs administered systemically.	6. No systemic administration (e.g., topical only).
C	1. Standard of care/placebo. 2. Experimental arm only in case of a non-match arm.	–
O	1. Measures of benefit: objective response rate or progression-free survival. 2. Measures of risk: grade 3, 4, or 5 drug-related events. 3. Additional outcomes: disease control rate, overall survival, time to progression, and duration of response.	1. No data on measures of benefit and/or risk.
S	1. Umbrella trials defined as studies that have many different treatment arms within one trial (participants are assigned to a particular treatment arm of the trial based on their type of cancer and the specific molecular makeup of their cancer) [4]. 2. Sub-studies testing targeted therapy or a combination of targeted therapy and chemotherapy that were part of the umbrella master protocol. 3. Platform umbrella trials as classified by the study authors and/or umbrella trials utilizing Bayesian response-adaptive randomization and/or umbrella trials in which sub-trials are added or suspended continuously [7, 13]. 4. Interventional studies of all phases (i.e., I, II, III). 5. Publications of sub-studies that were part of one umbrella study.	1. Studies without umbrella design (e.g., studies testing only one targeted therapy based on the patient’s molecular makeup). 2. Studies that tested targeted therapies on multiple tumor types. 3. Observational studies, review articles, and articles describing only umbrella study design without results.
S	6. Full articles and abstracts.	4. No full text available.

P population, I intervention, C comparator, O outcomes, S study type

Data sources and search strategy

We systematically searched Embase and PubMed for umbrella trial articles and abstracts published between 1 January 2006 and 7 October 2019, using strategies that included keywords and suggested MeSH and Emtree entry terms, their synonyms, and closely related words (Additional file 1: Table S1). Searches were not limited by language. The starting date of our search period was determined by the year of launching the first umbrella study [19]. Our search strategies were checked using the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health peer-review checklist for search strategies [38].

Study selection process

Two experienced coders (KS, MTW) independently screened the records for the initial study inclusion and performed a full-text screening to determine the final inclusions. Disagreements were resolved by discussion, and when necessary, a third person, an arbiter, was involved (MW).

Data extraction

We created and piloted a data extraction form. Based on the pilot, we refined and prepared the final version (available from the Open Science Framework (OSF), https://osf.io/kuyaz/). Data were extracted from each publication independently by two reviewers (KS, MB). Discrepancies were resolved by discussion, and when necessary, an arbiter was involved (MW). An experienced medical oncologist had a supervisory role (BG). In the case of multiple publications for the same study, the results from the full publication and/or the most recent version were used in the extraction. If the NCT number was provided, additional information was searched and extracted from ClinicalTrials.gov.

Umbrella trials are very heterogeneous; some of them are studies with multiple arms (Fig. 1A), and others have a hierarchical structure with sub-trials having a unique registration number (Fig. 1B). We extracted data only from the arms or sub-trials testing targeted therapy drugs or a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy. If the umbrella trial or sub-trial included a placebo, control group, or non-match arm, data from these arms were extracted separately for further comparison of matched versus non-matched therapy.

We considered the therapy as “matched” to the disease when at least one tested agent was administered based on the specific molecular features of the patient’s tumor, e.g., a drug matched to the specific genetic change. If patients were treated in (1) biomarker-negative sub-study/arm, (2) so-called non-match sub-study/arm (defined as the arm or sub-study recruiting patients that did not match any of the prespecified biomarkers), (3) placebo, or (4) control group testing only chemotherapy agents, we considered these therapies as not matching the specific tumor molecular characteristics.

For each arm or sub-study, we extracted data related to study characteristics (e.g., phase, location, study status), patient characteristics (e.g., number of enrolled and eligible participants, type of malignancy), intervention (e.g., therapy type, agent names), and outcomes (e.g., objective responses, drug-related adverse events). For more details, see our extraction form (https://osf.io/kuyaz/).

Data curation

We defined a “sub-study” of the umbrella trial as a separate trial within the umbrella protocol with a unique registration number provided by the study authors. In cases where the separate registration number was not provided, we used the term “arm.” The glossary of key manuscript terms is presented in the online appendix (Additional file 1: Table S2).

Umbrella trials generally measure short-term clinical outcomes to yield information about preliminary drug efficacy [8]. We included various measures of clinical benefit reported in umbrella trials: we classified the objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) as proxies of therapeutic benefit and overall survival (OS) as the direct measure of clinical benefit. We defined the objective response rate as the proportion of participants with partial and/or complete response (reported separately or as an objective response rate) as defined by the study authors. For PFS and OS analyses, we used medians provided by the study authors.

Risks were assessed in terms of patients experiencing severe adverse events, such as the proportion of participants experiencing grade 3, 4, or 5 drug-related AEs as defined by the Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events, version 5.0 (and earlier versions) [39]. An AE was considered as related to the study drug if it was clearly stated by the study authors; expressions such as “AEs attributed to treatment” and “AEs possibly, probably, or definitely related to study drug” were also acceptable. In cases where an event was not clearly described as treatment-related, we excluded it from our risk analysis.

Risk of bias assessment

Two authors (KS, MB) independently assessed the risk of bias for all included studies using the Cochrane risk of bias tools for randomized or non-randomized studies [40, 41]. Every sub-trial/arm was assessed separately by reading all relevant literature. Judgments were based on the algorithms proposed by the authors of ROBINS and RoB2 tools, adjusted to fit the specific aspects of our analysis. Disagreements were resolved by discussion.

Statistical analysis

Objective response rates, treatment-related fatal (grade 5) AE rates, and treatment-related grade 3/4 AEs rates were calculated as the number of each of these outcomes in the sub-study/arm divided by the total number of patients evaluated for response or toxicity in that sub-study/arm. Standard errors and confidence intervals (CIs) for a single proportion were derived. Pooled rates were estimated using meta-analysis for proportion. Modeling with random effects and the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimator were used to account for between-study heterogeneity. I² statistics were calculated to provide a measure of the proportion of overall variation attributable to between-study heterogeneity. Meta-regression was used to explore potential sources of heterogeneity in rates related to (1) categories of therapy type in experimental sub-trials/arms and (2) types of sub-trials/arms (experimental vs non-match/control/placebo), as well as (3) study definition and (4) number of drugs tested. The results are presented as rates with 95% CI in each category and p value from the Q test for heterogeneity in meta-regression. The average number of treatment-related grade 3 and 4 AEs per person with a 95% confidence interval was estimated using a Poisson regression model. Unweighted median with 95% CI was calculated for PFS and OS by bootstrap methods [42] using the “boot” package in the R software.

Meta-analysis was conducted using the metafor package (R version 3.2.3); p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All tests were 2-sided.

Results

We retrieved 6207 references from searching databases. After duplicate removal, we screened 4738 records, from which we reviewed 215 full-text documents. In the next step, we searched references of the initially included studies and ClinicalTrials.gov entries and found 2 extra articles. Finally, we included 29 records of 31 sub-trials or arms of 9 umbrella trials. Figure 2 summarizes the search results and reasons for exclusion. A full list of included studies with therapy type, malignancy names, and agents tested is presented in the online appendix (Additional file 1: Table S3) [43‐71].

Trial and patient characteristics

We included 31 sub-trials or arms of nine umbrella trials (N = 1637). Six out of 9 umbrella trials can be also classified as platform umbrella trials (Additional file 1: Table S3). The majority (19; 61.2%) of included studies were sub-studies with a separate registration number, ten (32.3%) were umbrella trial arms without a separate registration number, and two (6.5%) were arms of the included sub-studies (Table 2). The majority (27; 87.1%) were biomarker-based experimental sub-studies/arms, two (6.5%) were non-biomarker specific, and one (3.2%) was either a placebo or a control group. Twenty-one sub-studies/arms (67.8%) tested targeted therapies, eight (25.8%) tested a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy, one (3.2%) tested standard-of-care chemotherapy, and one (3.2%) was a placebo arm. The majority of included sub-trials/arms (25; 80.6%) were phase II studies and tested one investigational drug (22; 71.0%). Six sub-trials/arms (19.4%) were funded by private sponsors, four (12.9%) by public institutions, and 21 (67.7%) by both private and public sponsors. Thirteen sub-trials/arms (42.0%) were conducted in North America, 12 (38.7%) in Asia, five (16.1%) in Europe, and one (3.2%) in Australia.

Table 2

Characteristics of the included studies

Characteristics	Category or number	Total (n = 31), n (%)
Umbrella trial acronym and number of included sub-trials/arms	Lung-MAP	5 (16.0^a)
	BATTLE	4 (12.9)
	BATTLE-2	4 (12.9)
	Cluster trial	4 (12.9)
	SUKSES	4 (12.9)
	VIKTORY	4 (12.9)
	FOCUS4	2 (6.5)
	PICCOLO	2 (6.5)
	UmbHER1	2 (6.5)
Study classification	Sub-study	19 (61.2^a)
	Umbrella trial arm	10 (32.3)
	Sub-study arm	2 (6.5)
Sub-trial/arm type	Experimental	27 (87.1)
	Experimental—non-match	2 (6.5)
	Control group	1 (3.2)
	Placebo	1 (3.2)
Therapy type	Targeted therapy	21 (67.8^a)
	Targeted therapy with chemotherapy	8 (25.8)
	Chemotherapy	1 (3.2)
	Placebo	1 (3.2)
Publication year	2019	14 (45.1^a)
	2018	7 (22.6)
	2016	4 (12.9)
	2013	4 (12.9)
	2011	2 (6.5)
Location	North America	13 (42.0^a)
	Asia	12 (38.7)
	Europe	5 (16.1)
	Australia	1 (3.2)
Funding	Mixed	21 (67.7)
	Private	6 (19.4)
	Public	4 (12.9)
Sub-trial/arm status	Completed	20 (64.5)
	Closed at interim analysis	7 (22.5^a)
	Terminated	2 (6.5)
	Unknown	2 (6.5)
Study definition	Phase II	25 (80.6)
	Phase III	4 (12.9)
	Phase II/III	2 (6.5)
Total number of investigational drugs	1 drug	22 (71.0)
Total number of investigational drugs	≥ 2 drugs	9 (29.0)
Further studies recommended	No	15 (48.3^a)
	Not reported	8 (25.8)
	Yes	6 (19.4)
	Not applicable	2 (6.5)
Enrolled patients, n (%)	1637 (100)
Patients evaluable for toxicity, n (%)^b	1379 (84.2)
Patients evaluable for response, n (%)^c	1328 (81.1)
Male patients, n (%)^d	512 (31.3)
Median age at enrollment, n (%) of sub-studies/arms	Not reported	13 (41.9)
	< 65	13 (41.9)
	≥ 65	5 (16.2^a)
Tumor type, n (%) of sub-studies/arms	Solid tumors	31 (100)
Tumor type, n (%) of sub-studies/arms	Hematological malignancies	0 (0)
Stage of disease	Stage IIIB or IV or advanced or metastatic or relapsed	30 (96.8)
Stage of disease	Early and locally advanced	1 (3.2)
Performance status scale used, n (%) of sub-studies/arms	ECOG/WHO/Zubrod 0–1	9 (29.0)
Performance status scale used, n (%) of sub-studies/arms	ECOG/WHO/Zubrod 0–2	22 (71.0)

ECOG Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, WHO World Health Organization

^a The percentage was calculated by subtracting the remaining % values from 100%

^b The number of patients evaluable for toxicity was not reported in 8 sub-trials/arms

^c The number of patients evaluable for response was not reported in 1 sub-trial

^d Sex was not reported in 13 sub-trials/arms

In 13 sub-studies/arms, the median age of participants was below 65 years; in 5 sub-studies/arms, the median age was 65 years or higher; and in the remaining 13 sub-studies/arms, the median age was not reported (Table 2). All sub-trials/arms involved only patients with solid tumors.

Benefit in experimental sub-trials/arms

Twenty-two of 27 experimental sub-trials/arms reported response data. We identified 185 objective responses (including 142 partial and 5 complete reported separately and 38 reported as objective responses) among 879 participants evaluated for response. One targeted therapy experimental arm was excluded from the meta-analysis because only 1 patient was evaluated for response in that arm.

The pooled ORR across 21 sub-trials/arms (878 patients) was 19.7% (95% CI 10.5–28.8; I² = 97.3%; Fig. 3). The ORR for targeted therapies was significantly lower than the ORR for combination of targeted therapy drugs with chemotherapy: 13.3% (95% CI 4.6–21.9) vs 39.0% (95% CI 21.3–56.8), p = 0.005.

The median PFS ranging from 1.2 to 17.0 months was reported in 16 experimental sub-trials/arms [72]. The pooled median PFS was 2.5 months (95% CI 2.0–7.8).

The median OS ranging from 4.7 to 10.4 months was reported in 12 experimental sub-trials/arms. The pooled median OS was 6.8 months (95% CI 6.0–8.0). We did not compare pooled PFS and OS between targeted therapy and a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy because only one sub-study/arm testing combination of the therapies reported these outcomes.

Risk in experimental sub-trials/arms

We analyzed 9 drug-related grade 5 AEs among 999 participants evaluated for toxicity in 15 experimental sub-trials/arms (including 9 drug-related deaths in 5 experimental sub-trials/arms and in the remaining 10 sub-trials/arms the drug-related deaths were reported to be 0). The pooled drug-related death rate across these sub-trials/arms was 0.7% (95% CI 0.1–1.2; I² = 4.5%; Fig. 4).

The pooled drug-related grade 5 AE rate for 12 experimental targeted therapy sub-trials/arms (among 502 participants evaluated for toxicity) was 1.1% (95% CI 0.2–2.0) and for 3 experimental targeted therapy combined with chemotherapy sub-trials/arms (497 participants) was 0.5% (95% CI 0.1–1.2). Due to the small number of events, statistical comparisons between the different groups were not performed.

Ninety-one patients (34.0%; 95% CI 15.2–52.9) experienced treatment-related grade 3/4 AEs in 5 sub-trials (Fig. 5). The treatment-related grade 3/4 rate in four of these sub-trials/arms testing targeted therapy drugs was 42.6% (95% CI 31.2–53.9).

Three hundred eleven drug-related grade 3/4 AEs were reported in 11 experimental sub-trials/arms (10 targeted therapy, one targeted therapy with chemotherapy) among 695 toxicity evaluable patients, with an average drug-related grade 3/4 AE rate per person of 0.45 (95% CI 0.40–0.50).

Overall benefit and risk

Twenty-five of 31 sub-trials/arms reported 212 objective responses (including 169 partial and 5 complete reported separately and 38 reported as objective responses) among 1148 participants evaluated for response. One arm was excluded from the meta-analysis because only 1 patient was evaluated for response in that arm. The pooled overall ORR across 24 sub-trials/arms (1147 patients) was 17.7% (95% CI 9.5–25.9; I² = 97.3%; Fig. 6). We did not find a significant difference in ORR between experimental sub-trials/arms versus non-matched therapies: 19.7% (95% CI 10.5–28.8) vs 7.1% (95% CI 0.0–13.5); p = 0.25.

The median PFS ranging from 1.2 to 17.0 months was reported in 19 sub-trials/arms. The pooled median PFS was 2.4 months (95% CI 1.9–2.9). For 3 sub-trials/arms with non-matched therapies the pooled median PFS was 2.0 months (95% CI 1.2–3.5).

The median OS ranging from 4.7 to 10.5 months was reported in 13 sub-trials/arms. The pooled median OS was 7.1 months (95% CI 6.1–8.4). We did not compare the pooled OS rates between sub-trial/arm types because there was only one arm reporting this outcome in the non-matched group.

We identified 12 drug-related grade 5 AEs among 1233 patients evaluable for toxicity in 17 sub-trials/arms. The overall pooled drug-related death rate across these sub-trials/arms was 0.8% (95% CI 0.3–1.4; I² = 7.32%; Fig. 7). We did not compare pooled drug-related death rates between sub-trial/arm types because there were two sub-trials/arms reporting this outcome in the non-match sub-category.

Treatment-related grade 3/4 AEs were not reported in non-matched sub-trials/arms. The overall treatment-related grade 3/4 AE rate and the average drug-related grade 3/4 AE rate per person remain the same as for the experimental arms described previously.

Sub-group analysis of benefit and risk

We observed significant differences in ORR between Phase II and Phase III trials: 14.0% (95% CI 6.9-21.2) vs 36.4% (95% CI 3.4-69.3); p = 0.03 (Additional file 1: Table S4). Other benefit and risk measures in sub-categories are shown in the online appendix (Additional file 1: Table S4).

Risk of bias assessment

The risk of bias of the included sub-studies/arms is available in the online appendix (Figs. S1-S4). There were two randomized sub-studies with “low” or “some concerns” risk of bias among all domains. There were 27 nonrandomized sub-trials/arms, and 16 of them (59%) were assessed as having the overall risk of bias as “serious” or “critical.” High levels of bias were mainly due to bias in the selection of the reported result.

Discussion

To our knowledge, we report the first systematic review and meta-analysis providing risk and benefit estimates for cancer umbrella trials testing targeted therapies or a combination of targeted therapies with chemotherapy. These analyses include four aspects: (1) the utility of a new strategy of clinical trials (umbrella designs) in oncology, (2) the utility of precision oncology, (3) the utility of pooling populations across arms and across chemotherapies, and (4) the likelihood that a drug works in more than one specific population.

Maximizing benefit and minimizing harm for participants of clinical research are one of the crucial ethical requirements. Umbrella trial designs are believed not only to be more flexible than traditional designs by allowing simultaneous evaluation of multiple treatment options but also to have a better risk/benefit ratio for trial participants [10]. However, our findings do not support the expectations of an increased benefit/risk ratio for participants of cancer umbrella trials.

Normally, the risk-benefit ratio in clinical trials is a function of the drug. However, clinical trial design may also affect this equation. Some elements of the umbrella design are expected to provide a more favorable risk/benefit ratio for participants than the classical trial designs. For example, the “precision medicine” approach of assigning patients to treatment arms based on the genetic characteristics of their tumor may lead to an expectation of higher responses and lower adverse event rates. Moreover, most of the umbrella trials in our study used the platform design and an adaptive design. This means that more patients may be enrolled in an arm with more promising health benefits, during the course of the study. Our results cast doubts on such an assumption. For example, the majority of the sub-trials/arms in our sample were phase II trials with pooled ORR of 14.0%. This result is similar to the pooled ORR in the previous meta-analysis of phase II single-agent studies (12.7%) [27] but lower than the overall ORR in eight cancer basket trials published until 31 March 2018 (25%) [73].

Our findings suggest that in all umbrella clinical trials in oncology published before 7 October 2019, the chances of responding from targeted therapies were lower than from the combination of targeted therapies with chemotherapy. This observation is consistent with the previous findings showing the increased overall response rates in trials testing a combination of targeted therapies with cytotoxic drugs [32]. Unfortunately, a comparison of the overall benefits and risks in our meta-analysis to other studies is limited as the included sub-trials/arms were very heterogeneous, e.g., they were of different phases, and included heterogeneous populations and various types of cancers.

The majority of the included sub-trials/arms reported surrogate outcomes: ORR (25; 80.6%) or PFS (19; 61.3%). Thirteen sub-trials/arms (41.9%) reported OS. A variety of endpoints makes a comparison of outcomes in meta-research more demanding. Importantly, although sometimes accepted by regulatory agencies for approval, ORR and PFS are surrogate markers that have shown poor correlation with OS and quality of life in most tumor types. Furthermore, early phases of clinical trials also poorly predict phase III success. Therefore, surrogate measures should be considered only hypothesis-generating and not a marker of true clinical benefit [74‐78].

We did not find significant differences in objective response rates between therapies matched to the specific cancer biomarkers versus non-matched therapies or controls. This finding may suggest that the approaches to maximize the direct benefit in umbrella trials, e.g., genome-driven stratification and assignment to the most promising arm, may not be sufficient to deliver the appropriate therapy matching the heterogeneous and mutable tumor [8]. This also raises the question if biomarkers used to define the target in precision oncology may be suboptimal [79]. However, other systematic reviews analyzing pediatric phase I [80] and phase II [27] cancer trials showed high objective response rates in trials with target-specific enrolment [80] or in trials adopting personalized treatment approach [27].

The drug-related death rate of 1.1% in phase II sub-trials/arms in our sample (Additional file 1: Table S4) is also similar to the drug-related grade 5 AEs rate in the previous meta-analysis of phase II single-agent studies that used personalized strategy (1.5%) [27]. This may indicate that phase II umbrella trials do not offer a lower risk for trial participants than classical phase II clinical trials.

Debates about whether precision medicine is an illusion or an objective reality continues in oncology [81]. Our findings do not support the expectation of increased participants’ benefit in cancer umbrella trials. Patients should be clearly informed that the majority of participants (82.3%) of the first launched umbrella trials testing targeted therapy agents or combination of targeted therapy drugs with chemotherapy did not respond to a given therapy.

The objective of our study was to analyze the risk/benefit ratio for umbrella clinical trials testing targeted drugs or a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy. Analyses of that type are crucial sources of information for participants, researchers, ethics committee members, and other stakeholders and decision-makers. When performing our analysis, we found that the complexity of the umbrella design and the low quality of reporting makes a comparison of the results from trials and sub-trials very difficult. Many umbrella arms and sub-trials of the umbrella trials included in our study were closed without any explanation and without a report of the results. Our findings may be used to improve umbrella trials design reporting.

Limitations

Our study should be interpreted in light of the following limitations.

First, we included all umbrella trials or sub-trials being a part of one umbrella trial in which one cancer type was divided into sub-types to test the different drugs. Because umbrella trials are very heterogeneous and have a hierarchical structure and every arm may be of different phase, we did not compare the whole umbrella trials but compared the sub-trials and arms. We created this novel methodology to analyze the outcomes of a complex umbrella trial design but our methods may be further modified and improved.

Second, we observed inconsistency in reporting the outcomes and selective reporting of the results in the majority of the included umbrella trials. For example, in the VIKTORY trial [71], outcomes were not provided for six out of 10 arms. Low quality of reporting of umbrella trials is a serious issue not only because of the difficulties in performing meta-research but also for other ethical reasons, including patients’ safety and decision-making process in designing new trials.

Third, ORR and PFS reported in most umbrella trials are considered a surrogate benefit and are not markers of direct clinical benefit [76, 82]. We analyze them because they are the best available surrogates of clinical benefit.

Fourth, our systematic review is restricted to umbrella trials which results were reported between 2006 and 2019 and does not include trials developed based on the findings of those initial trials. As relatively novel designs, umbrella trials are expected to improve methodologically over time and may produce results leading to different conclusions than those presented here.

Fifth, the limited number of eligible sub-trials reporting the outcomes of interest did not allow for all possible comparisons, for example, pooled PFS and OS.

Sixth, the majority of the analyzed studies reported summary results. Thus, we could not test whether risk and benefit in umbrella trials depend on the line of treatment or cancer histology.

Conclusions

This is the first systematic review with meta-analysis assessing the risk and benefits of umbrella clinical trials. We found that the overall objective response rate in umbrella trials testing targeted drugs or a combination of targeted therapy with chemotherapy was 17.7%, and the overall drug-related death rate was 0.8%. Patients enrolling in umbrella trials should be clearly informed about the risk and benefit predictions for these trials. Our findings do not support the expectation of increased patients’ benefits in cancer umbrella trials. Further studies should investigate whether umbrella trial design and precision oncology approach improve patient outcomes. Our study identified serious problems with reporting and transparency of umbrella design which may undermine a promise of more efficient and patient-centered trials.

Registration and protocol

The study protocol was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020171494) [36].

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Phyllis Zych Budka for the linguistic edits.

Declarations

Not applicable.

Competing interests

Marcin Waligora reports personal fees from the Advisory Bioethics Council (Sanofi) outside the submitted work. Karolina Strzebonska, Mateusz Blukacz, Mateusz T. Wasylewski, Maciej Polak, and Bishal Gyawali declare that they have no competing interests.

Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Senft D, Leiserson MDM, Ruppin E, Ronai ZA. Precision oncology: the road ahead. Trends Mol Med. 2017;23(10):874–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2017.08.003.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Siden EG, Park JJH, Zoratti MJ, Dron L, Harari O, Thorlund K, et al. Reporting of master protocols towards a standardized approach: a systematic review. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2019;15:100406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100406.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Park JJH, Hsu G, Siden EG, Thorlund K, Mills EJ. An overview of precision oncology basket and umbrella trials for clinicians. CA Cancer J Clin. 2020;70(2):125–37. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21600.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

American Society of Clinical Oncology Research Community Forum. Library of resources: conducting and managing cancer clinical trials. Alexandria: American Society of Clinical Oncology; 2020. https://www.asco.org/sites/new-www.asco.org/files/content-files/research-and-progress/documents/2020-ASCO-RCF-Library-Methodology.pdf. Accessed 3 Dec 2021

U. S Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration, master protocols: efficient clinical trial design strategies to expedite development of oncology drugs and biologics guidance for industry (Draft Guidance) 2018. https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/UCM621817.pdf. Accessed 3 Dec 2021.

West HJ. Novel precision medicine trial designs. JAMA Oncol. 2017;3(3):423. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.5299.CrossRefPubMed

Renfro LA, Mandrekar SJ. Definitions and statistical properties of master protocols for personalized medicine in oncology. J Biopharm Stat. 2018;28(2):217–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10543406.2017.1372778.CrossRefPubMed

Strzebonska K, Waligora M. Umbrella and basket trials in oncology: ethical challenges. BMC Med Ethics. 2019;20(1):58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-019-0395-5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Woodcock J, LaVange LM. Master protocols to study multiple therapies, multiple diseases, or both. N Engl J Med. 2017;377(1):62–70. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1510062.CrossRefPubMed

10.

Waligora M, Strzebonska K. Umbrella trials design. In: Frey B, editor. The SAGE encyclopedia of research design. USA: SAGE Publications, Inc; 2022. p. 1763–4. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071812082.n657.

11.

Bogin V. Master protocols: new directions in drug discovery. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2020;18:100568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100568.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

12.

Verweij J, Hendriks HR, Zwierzina H. Innovation in oncology clinical trial design. Cancer Treat Rev. 2019;74:15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2019.01.001.CrossRefPubMed

13.

Renfro LA, Sargent DJ. Statistical controversies in clinical research: basket trials, umbrella trials, and other master protocols: a review and examples. Ann Oncol. 2017;28(1):34–43. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdw413.CrossRefPubMed

14.

National Cancer Institute. NCI Dictionaries. Dictionary of cancer terms. Umbrella trial. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/umbrella-trial. Accessed 3 Dec 2021.

15.

Prasad V. Perspective: the precision-oncology illusion. Nature. 2016;537(7619):S63. https://doi.org/10.1038/537S63a.CrossRefPubMed

16.

Tannock IF, Hickman JA. Limits to personalized cancer medicine. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(13):1289–94. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsb1607705.CrossRefPubMed

17.

Voest EE, Bernards R. DNA-guided precision medicine for cancer: a case of irrational exuberance? Cancer Discov. 2016;6(2):130–2. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-15-1321.CrossRefPubMed

18.

Kimmelman J, Tannock I. The paradox of precision medicine. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2018;15(6):341–2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0016-0.CrossRefPubMed

19.

Park JJH, Siden E, Zoratti MJ, Dron L, Harari O, Singer J, et al. Systematic review of basket trials, umbrella trials, and platform trials: a landscape analysis of master protocols. Trials. 2019;20(1):572. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3664-1.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

20.

Collignon O, Gartner C, Haidich AB, Hemmings RJ, Hofner B, Pétavy F, et al. Current statistical considerations and regulatory perspectives on the planning of confirmatory basket, umbrella, and platform trials. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2020;107(5):1059–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.1804.CrossRefPubMed

21.

Hey SP, Weijer C, Taljaard M, Kesselheim AS. Research ethics for emerging trial designs: does equipoise need to adapt? BMJ. 2018;360:k226. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k226.CrossRefPubMed

22.

International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans, Fourth Edition. Geneva: Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS); 2016. https://cioms.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WEB-CIOMS-EthicalGuidelines.pdf. Accessed 7 Jun 2022.

23.

Rid A, Wendler D. A framework for risk-benefit evaluations in biomedical research. Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 2011;21(2):141–79. https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2011.0007.CrossRefPubMed

24.

Weijer C, Miller PB. When are research risks reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits? Nat Med. 2004;10(6):570–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0604-570.CrossRefPubMed

25.

Wendler D, Miller FG. Assessing research risks systematically: the net risks test. J Med Ethics. 2007;33(8):481–6. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2005.014043.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

26.

Waligora M, Bala MM, Koperny M, Wasylewski MT, Strzebonska K, Jaeschke R, et al. Risk and surrogate benefit for pediatric phase I trials in oncology: a systematic review with meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2018;15(2):e1002505. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002505.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

27.

Schwaederle M, Zhao M, Lee JJ, Eggermont AM, Schilsky RL, Mendelsohn J, et al. Impact of precision medicine in diverse cancers: a meta-analysis of phase II clinical trials. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33(32):3817–25. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2015.61.5997.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

28.

Magee DE, Hird AE, Klaassen Z, Sridhar SS, Nam RK, Wallis CJD, et al. Adverse event profile for immunotherapy agents compared with chemotherapy in solid organ tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Ann Oncol. 2020;31(1):50–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2019.10.008.CrossRefPubMed

29.

Mackley MP, Fernandez NR, Fletcher B, Woolcott CG, Fernandez CV. Revisiting risk and benefit in early oncology trials in the era of precision medicine: a systematic review and meta-analysis of phase I trials of targeted single-agent anticancer therapies. JCO Precis Oncol. 2021;5:17–26. https://doi.org/10.1200/PO.20.00214.CrossRefPubMed

30.

Strzebonska K, Wasylewski MT, Zaborowska L, Polak M, Slugocka E, Stras J, et al. Risk and benefit for targeted therapy agents in pediatric phase II trials in oncology: a systematic review with a meta-analysis. Target Oncol. 2021;16(4):415–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-021-00822-5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

31.

Bedard PL, Hyman DM, Davis MS, Siu LL. Small molecules, big impact: 20 years of targeted therapy in oncology. Lancet. 2020;395(10229):1078–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30164-1.CrossRefPubMed

32.

Azam F, Vazquez A. Trends in phase II trials for cancer therapies. Cancers (Basel). 2021;13(2):178. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13020178.CrossRef

33.

Le Tourneau C, Belin L, Paoletti X, Biéche I, Kamal M. Precision medicine: lessons learned from the SHIVA trial – author’s reply. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(16):e581–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00455-6.CrossRefPubMed

34.

Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ. 2021;372:n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

35.

Page MJ, Moher D, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ. 2021;372:n160. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n160.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

36.

Strzebonska K, Wasylewski M, Blukacz M, Gyawali B, Waligora M. Risk and benefit for umbrella trials in oncology: a systematic review with meta-analysis: PROSPERO; 2020. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020171494. Accessed 3 Dec 2021

37.

Karp DD, Falchook GS. Handbook of targeted cancer therapy and immunotherapy. Targeted cancer therapy. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2018.

38.

Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. CADTH peer review checklist for search strategies. Ottawa: The Agency; 2013. https://www.cadth.ca/sites/default/files/is/Peer_review/CADTH%20Peer%20Review%20Checklist%20for%20Search%20Strategies_e.pdf. Accessed 3 Dec 2021

39.

National Cancer Institute. Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events: (CTCAE). https://ctep.cancer.gov/protocoldevelopment/electronic_applications/ctc.htm. Accessed 3 Dec 2021.

40.

Sterne JAC, Savović J, Page MJ, Elbers RG, Blencowe NS, Boutron I, et al. RoB 2: a revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomized trials. BMJ. 2019;366:l4898. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4898.CrossRefPubMed

41.

Sterne JAC, Hernán MA, Reeves BC, Savović J, Berkman ND, Viswanathan M, et al. ROBINS-I: a tool for assessing risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions. BMJ. 2016;355:i4919. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i4919.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

42.

Carpenter J, Bithell J. Bootstrap confidence intervals: when, which, what? A practical guide for medical statisticians. Stat Med. 2000;19(9):1141–64 https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-0258(20000515)19:9<1141::aid-sim479>3.0.co;2-f.CrossRef

43.

Kim ES, Herbst RS, Wistuba II, Lee JJ, Blumenschein GR Jr, Tsao A, et al. The BATTLE trial: personalizing therapy for lung cancer. Cancer Discov. 2011;1(1):44–53. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8274.CD-10-0010.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

44.

Tsao AS, Liu S, Lee JJ, Alden C, Blumenschein G, Herbst R, et al. Clinical outcomes and biomarker profiles of elderly pretreated NSCLC patients from the BATTLE trial. J Thorac Oncol. 2012;7(11):1645–52. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTO.0b013e31826910ff.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

45.

Blumenschein GR Jr, Saintigny P, Liu S, Kim ES, Tsao AS, Herbst RS, et al. Comprehensive biomarker analysis and final efficacy results of sorafenib in the BATTLE trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2013;19(24):6967–75. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-1818.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

46.

Herbst RS, Blumenschein GR Jr, Kim ES, Lee J, Tsao AS, Alden CM, et al. Sorafenib treatment efficacy and KRAS biomarker status in the Biomarker-Integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination (BATTLE) trial. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28(15_suppl):7609. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2010.28.15_suppl.7609.CrossRef

47.

Tsao AS, Liu S, Lee JJ, Alden CM, Blumenschein GR Jr, Herbst R, et al. Clinical and biomarker outcomes of the phase II vandetanib study from the BATTLE trial. J Thorac Oncol. 2013;8(5):658–61. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTO.0b013e31828d08ae.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

48.

Papadimitrakopoulou V, Lee JJ, Wistuba II, Tsao AS, Fossella FV, Kalhor N, et al. The BATTLE-2 Study: a biomarker-integrated targeted therapy study in previously treated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(30):3638–47. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2015.66.0084.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

49.

Papadimitrakopoulou V, Lee JJ, Wistuba II, Tsao AS, Fossella FV, Heymach J, et al. BATTLE-2: KRAS mutation and outcome in a biomarker-integrated study in previously treated patients (pts) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(15_suppl):8042. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2014.32.15_suppl.8042.CrossRef

50.

Zhou Q, Zhang XC, Tu HY, Gan B, Wang BC, Xu CR, et al. Biomarker-integrated study of single agent targeting molecular alterations of PI3KCA, MET, ALK, ROS1, KRAS, NRAS or BRAF in advanced NSCLC: phase 2 umbrella trial in China (CTONG1505). Ann Oncol. 2018;29(9_suppl):ix113. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdy441.CrossRef

51.

Wu Y, Zhou Q, Zhang X, Tu H, Gan B, Wang B, et al. P1. 01-97 cluster trial: Ph2 biomarker-integrated study of single agent alpelisib, capmatinib, ceritinib and binimetinib in advNSCLC. J Thorac Oncol. 2018;13(10):S500–1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2018.08.653.CrossRef

52.

Adams RA, Brown E, Brown L, Butler R, Falk S, Fisher D, et al. FOCUS4-D: results from a randomised, placebo controlled trial (RCT) of AZD8931 (an inhibitor of signalling by HER1, 2, and 3) in patients (pts) with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (aCRC) in tumours that are wildtype (wt) for BRAF, PIK3CA, KRAS & NRAS. Ann Oncol. 2016;27(6_suppl):vi168. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdw370.57.CrossRef

53.

Richman SD, Adams R, Brown E, Brown L, Butler R, Falk S, et al. FOCUS4: MAMS trial design in action. Early closure of FOCUS4-D (Pan-HER 1, 2 and 3 inhibitor versus placebo) in advanced colorectal cancer (aCRC) patients, with tumours wildtype (WT) for KRAS, NRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA. J Pathol. 2017;243(S1):S13.

54.

Adams R, Brown E, Brown L, Butler R, Falk S, Fisher D, et al. Inhibition of EGFR, HER2, and HER3 signalling in patients with colorectal cancer wild-type for BRAF, PIK3CA, KRAS, and NRAS (FOCUS4-D): a phase 2–3 randomised trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;3(3):162–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(17)30394-1.CrossRefPubMed

55.

Herbst R, Redman M, Gandara DR, Hirsch FR, Mack P, Borghaei H, et al. OA 14.07 progress in lung squamous cell carcinoma from the Lung-MAP Master Protocol (S1400) sub-studies S1400A, S1400B, S1400C and S1400D. J Thorac Oncol. 2017;12(11):S1783–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2017.09.412.CrossRef

56.

Wade JL, Langer CJ, Redman M, Aggarwal C, Bradley JD, Crawford J, et al. A phase II study of GDC-0032 (taselisib) for previously treated PI3K positive patients with stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (SqNSCLC): LUNG-MAP sub-study SWOG S1400B. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(15_suppl):9054. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2017.35.15_suppl.9054.CrossRef

57.

Langer CJ, Redman MW, Wade JL 3rd, Aggarwal C, Bradley JD, Crawford J, et al. SWOG S1400B (NCT02785913), a phase II study of GDC-0032 (taselisib) for previously treated PI3K-positive patients with stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (Lung-MAP Sub-Study). J Thorac Oncol. 2019;14(10):1839–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2019.05.029.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

58.

Edelman MJ, Redman MW, Albain KS, McGary EC, Rafique N, Petro DP, et al. A phase II study of palbociclib (P) for previously treated cell cycle gene alteration positive patients (pts) with stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (SCC): Lung-MAP sub-study SWOG S1400C. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(15_suppl):9056. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2017.35.15_suppl.9056.CrossRef

59.

Edelman MJ, Redman MW, Albain KS, McGary EC, Rafique NM, Petro D, et al. SWOG S1400C (NCT02154490) - a phase II study of palbociclib for previously treated cell cycle gene alteration–positive patients with stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (Lung-MAP Substudy). J Thorac Oncol. 2019;14(10):1853–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2019.06.027.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

60.

Aggarwal C, Redman MW, Lara P, Borghaei H, Hoffman PC, Bradley JD, et al. Phase II study of the FGFR inhibitor AZD4547 in previously treated patients with FGF pathway-activated stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (SqNSCLC): LUNG-MAP sub-study SWOG S1400D. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(15_suppl):9055. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2017.35.15_suppl.9055.CrossRef

61.

Aggarwal C, Redman MW, Lara PN Jr, Borghaei H, Hoffman P, Bradley JD, et al. SWOG S1400D (NCT02965378), a phase II study of the fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitor AZD4547 in previously treated patients with fibroblast growth factor pathway–activated stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (Lung-MAP Substudy). J Thorac Oncol. 2019;14(10):1847–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2019.05.041.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

62.

Owonikoko TK, Redman MW, Byers LA, Hirsch FR, Mack PC, Schwartz LH, et al. A phase II study of talazoparib (BMN 673) in patients with homologous recombination repair deficiency (HRRD) positive stage IV squamous cell lung cancer (Lung-MAP Sub-Study, S1400G). J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:15_suppl–9022. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.9022.CrossRef

63.

Waqar SN, Redman MW, Arnold SM, Hirsch FR, Mack PC, Schwartz LH, et al. Phase II study of ABBV-399 (process II) in patients with C-MET positive stage IV/recurrent lung squamous cell cancer (SCC): LUNG-MAP sub-study S1400K (NCT03574753). J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:15_suppl–9075. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.9075.CrossRef

64.

Seymour MT, Brown SR, Middleton G, Maughan T, Richman S, Gwyther S, et al. Panitumumab and irinotecan versus irinotecan alone for patients with KRAS wild-type, fluorouracil-resistant advanced colorectal cancer (PICCOLO): a prospectively stratified randomised trial. Lancet Oncol. 2013;14(8):749–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70163-3.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

65.

Park S, Shim J, Jung HA, Sun JM, Lee SH, Park WY, et al. Biomarker driven phase II umbrella trial study of AZD1775, AZD2014, AZD2811 monotherapy in relapsed small cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2019;37(15_suppl):8514. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2019.37.15_suppl.8514.CrossRef

66.

Pivot X, Poole C, Martín M, Gligorov J, Barrios CH, Vrdoljak E, et al. The open-label, multinational, multicenter, phase IIIB umbrella study of subcutaneous trastuzumab with or without chemotherapy or pertuzumab in patients (pts) with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) or metastatic breast cancer (MBC): pooled analysis of safety data from the UmbHER1 program. Eur J Cancer. 2018;92(Suppl. 3):S105–6.CrossRef

67.

Pivot X, Poole C, Martín M, Gligorov J, Barrios CH, Vrdoljak E, et al. An open-label, multinational, multicentre, phase IIIB umbrella study of subcutaneous trastuzumab with or without chemotherapy or pertuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early or metastatic breast cancer (UmbHER1): interim safety results from early breast cancer studies. Ann Oncol. 2016;27:6_suppl–vi63. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdw364.66.CrossRef

68.

Zambetti M, Montemurro F, Morandi P, Zamagni C, Brandes AA, Bisagni G, et al. Safety profile of subcutaneous trastuzumab for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive early or locally advanced breast cancer: primary analysis of the SCHEARLY study. Eur J Cancer. 2018;105:61–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2018.09.034.CrossRefPubMed

69.

Woodward N, De Boer RH, Redfern A, White M, Young J, Truman M, et al. Results from the first multicenter, open-label, phase IIIb study investigating the combination of pertuzumab with subcutaneous trastuzumab and a taxane in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (SAPPHIRE). Clin Breast Cancer. 2019;19(3):216–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2019.02.008.CrossRefPubMed

70.

Lee J, Kim ST, Kozarewa I, Kim HK, Kim K, Mortimer PG, et al. Selumetinib plus docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy in KRAS mutant, KRAS amplified or MEK signatured gastric cancer patients: first arm of the umbrella trial in GC though the molecular screening, VIKTORY trial. J Clin Oncol. 2018;36:15_suppl–4061. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2018.36.15_suppl.4061.CrossRef

71.

Lee J, Kim ST, Kim K, Lee H, Kozarewa I, Mortimer PGS, et al. Tumor genomic profiling guides patients with metastatic gastric cancer to targeted treatment: the VIKTORY Umbrella Trial. Cancer Discov. 2019;9(10):1388–405. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-0442.CrossRefPubMed

72.

Strzebonska K, Blukacz M, Wasylewski MT, Polak M, Gyawali B, Waligora M. Raw data file for risk and benefit for umbrella trials in oncology: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2022. The Open Science Framework, https://osf.io/cx2vh/.

73.

Hazim A, Prasad V. A pooled analysis of published, basket trials in cancer medicine. Eur J Cancer. 2018;101:244–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2018.06.035.CrossRefPubMed

74.

Wasylewski MT, Strzebonska K, Koperny M, Polak M, Kimmelman J, Waligora M. Clinical development success rates and social value of pediatric phase 1 trials in oncology. PLoS One. 2020;15(6):e0234911. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234911.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

75.

Booth CM, Eisenhauer EA. Progression-free survival: meaningful or simply measurable? J Clin Oncol. 2012;30(10):1030–3. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2011.38.7571.CrossRefPubMed

76.

Kovic B, Jin X, Kennedy SA, Hylands M, Pędziwiatr M, Kuriyama A, et al. Evaluating progression-free survival as a surrogate outcome for health-related quality of life in oncology: a systematic review and quantitative analysis. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(12):1586–96. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4710.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

77.

Gyawali B, Hey SP, Kesselheim AS. Evaluating the evidence behind the surrogate measures included in the FDA’s table of surrogate endpoints as supporting approval of cancer drugs. EClinicalMedicine. 2020;21:100332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100332.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

78.

Hwang TJ, Gyawali B. Association between progression-free survival and patients’ quality of life in cancer clinical trials. Int J Cancer. 2019;144(7):1746–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.31957.CrossRefPubMed

79.

Gyawali B. Point: the imprecise pursuit of precision medicine: are biomarkers to blame? J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2017;15(7):859–62. https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn/2017.0126.CrossRefPubMed

80.

Cohen JW, Akshintala S, Kane E, Gnanapragasam H, Widemann BC, Steinberg SM, et al. A systematic review of pediatric phase I trials in oncology: toxicity and outcomes in the era of targeted therapies. Oncologist. 2020;25(6):532–40. https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0615.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

81.

Kaiser J. Is genome-guided cancer treatment hyped? Science. 2018;360(6387):365. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.360.6387.365.CrossRefPubMed

82.

Samuel JN, Booth CM, Eisenhauer E, Brundage M, Berry SR, Gyawali B. Association of quality-of-life outcomes in cancer drug trials with survival outcomes and drug class. JAMA Oncol. 2022:e220864. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.0864.

Titel: Risk and benefit for umbrella trials in oncology: a systematic review and meta-analysis
verfasst von: Karolina Strzebonska
Mateusz Blukacz
Mateusz T. Wasylewski
Maciej Polak
Bishal Gyawali
Marcin Waligora
Publikationsdatum: 01.12.2022
Verlag: BioMed Central
Erschienen in: BMC Medicine / Ausgabe 1/2022
Elektronische ISSN: 1741-7015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02420-2

Leitlinien kompakt für die Allgemeinmedizin

Mit medbee Pocketcards sicher entscheiden.

^{Seit 2022 gehört die medbee GmbH zum Springer Medizin Verlag}

Kostenlos registrieren

Facharzt-Training Allgemeinmedizin

Die ideale Vorbereitung zur anstehenden Prüfung mit den ersten 24 von 100 klinischen Fallbeispielen verschiedener Themenfelder

Mehr erfahren

Neu im Fachgebiet Allgemeinmedizin

23.04.2024 | Prävention und Rehabilitation in der Kardiologie | Nachrichten

Update Allgemeinmedizin

Bestellen Sie unseren Fach-Newsletter und bleiben Sie gut informiert.

Newsletter bestellen

Live-Webinar: Aktuelle Leitlinien bei Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen

Springer Medizin

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Supplementary Information

Publisher’s Note

Background

Methods

Eligibility criteria

Data sources and search strategy

Study selection process

Data extraction

Data curation

Risk of bias assessment

Statistical analysis

Results

Trial and patient characteristics

Benefit in experimental sub-trials/arms

Risk in experimental sub-trials/arms

Overall benefit and risk

Sub-group analysis of benefit and risk

Risk of bias assessment

Discussion

Limitations

Conclusions

Registration and protocol

Acknowledgements

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Consent for publication

Competing interests

Publisher’s Note

Supplementary Information

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 1/2022

Prophylactic antibiotic use during labor and delivery in China: a nationwide, multicenter, hospital-based, cross-sectional study

GWAS in people of Middle Eastern descent reveals a locus protective of kidney function—a cross-sectional study

Childhood diabetes mellitus and early-onset kidney diseases later in life: a nationwide population-based matched cohort study

ctDNA-adjusted bTMB as a predictive biomarker for patients with NSCLC treated with PD-(L)1 inhibitors

Blackwater fever and acute kidney injury in children hospitalized with an acute febrile illness: pathophysiology and prognostic significance

Heterogeneity in pragmatic randomised trials: sources and management

Leitlinien kompakt für die Allgemeinmedizin

Facharzt-Training Allgemeinmedizin

Neu im Fachgebiet Allgemeinmedizin

Europäische Ernährungsgewohnheiten: Das sind die häufigsten Fehler

Ärztliche Empathie hilft gegen Rückenschmerzen

Demenzkranke durch Antipsychotika vielfach gefährdet

Parkinson-Therapie im Wandel – aktuelle Leitlinie im Fokus

Update Allgemeinmedizin