Quality of life under capecitabine (Xeloda®) in patients with metastatic breast cancer: data from a german non-interventional surveillance study

AIM: This non-interventional surveillance study (NIS) collected data on the quality of life (QoL) of patients treated with capecitabine as mono- or combination chemotherapy in an outpatient setting.

METHODS: Capecitabine was administered orally for 14 days of each 21-day cycle. The main parameters of interest were QoL, compliance, patient and physician satisfaction, handling of hand-foot syndrome (HFS), and efficacy. The statistics were descriptive; some differences were compared using confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS: 735 patients from 161 centers received at least 1 dose of capecitabine. The median duration of observation was 5.5 months overall. The QoL global score was 53% (mean from the entire study population at all times), without any correlation to HFS. The overall response rate (ORR) was 35.1%, and the disease control rate (DCR) 64.4%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was overall 6.81 months (95% CI 6.32-7.63 months) and it was significantly higher in patients with HFS (8.4 months, 95% CI 7.5-9.2 months, hazard ratio (HR) 0.60; p < 0.0001). The safety and tolerability of capecitabine were considered acceptable. The HFS incidence (all grades) was 27.1%.

CONCLUSIONS: Capecitabine had a favorable risk-benefit relation in outpatient therapy. The QoL remained stable over the course of the investigation, indicating good compliance. HFS was a strong predictor of longer PFS and had no negative impact on the global QoL.