From early twentieth century social reform movements emerged the ingredients for both child and family psychiatry. Both psychiatries that involve children, parents, and families began in child ...guidance clinics. Post-World War II intellectual creativity provided the epistemological framework for treating families. Eleven founders (1950-1969) led the development of family psychiatry. Child and family psychiatrists disagreed over the issues of individual and family group dynamics. Over the past 25 years the emerging sciences of interaction, in the context of the Primate Social Organ System (PSOS), have produced the evidence for the family being the entity of treatment in psychiatry.
Background:
Paclitaxel is widely used for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC). However, it has a low oral bioavailability due to gut extrusion caused by P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Oral ...paclitaxel (oPAC) may be more convenient, less resource-intensive, and more tolerable than its intravenous form. Encequidar (E) is a first-in-class, minimally absorbed, gut-specific oral P-gp inhibitor that facilitates the oral absorption of paclitaxel.
Objectives:
To investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK), overall response rate (ORR), and safety of weekly oral paclitaxel with encequidar (oPAC + E) in patients with advanced breast cancer.
Design:
This is a multicenter, single-arm, open-label study in six medical centers in Taiwan.
Methods:
Patients with advanced breast cancer were administered 205 mg/m2 oPAC and 12.9 mg E for 3 consecutive days weekly for up to 16 weeks. Plasma samples were collected at weeks 1 and 4. PK, ORR, and safety were evaluated.
Results:
In all, 28 patients were enrolled; 27 had MBC; 23 had prior chemotherapy; and 14 had ⩾2 lines of prior chemotherapy. PK were evaluable in 25 patients. Plasma paclitaxel area under the curve (AUC)(0–52 h) at week 1 (3419 ± 1475 ng h/ml) and week 4 (3224 ± 1150 ng h/ml) were equivalent. Best overall response in 28 evaluable patients was partial response (PR) in 11 (39.3%), 13 (46.4%) stable disease (SD), and 1 (3.6%) with progressive disease (PD). No patient achieved complete response (CR). The clinical benefit rate (CR + PR + SD) was 85.7%. Major adverse events among the 28 treated patients were grade 3 neutropenia (25%), grade 4 neutropenia (18%), with febrile neutropenia in 4%, and grade 3 diarrhea (4%). No treatment-related deaths occurred. Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy occurred in 1 (4%) patient and grade 3 peripheral neuropathy in 1 (4%) patient.
Conclusions:
oPAC + E produced a consistent therapeutic plasma paclitaxel exposure during treatment. There was a high rate of radiologically assessed clinical benefit, and a low rate of neurotoxicity which may provide advantages over IV paclitaxel.
Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03165955
Oraxol consists of an oral dosage form of the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel administered with a novel P‐glycoprotein inhibitor encequidar methanesulfonate monohydrate (formerly named HM30181A), ...which allows oral treatment of cancers that would otherwise be treated with intravenous paclitaxel. Here we describe the population pharmacokinetics (popPK) analyses for oral paclitaxel in patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors to characterize pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles and quantify sources of PK variability. The best fit popPK model for oral paclitaxel, based on data from seven clinical studies (197 patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors), involves a linear two‐compartment structural model containing first‐order absorption with a short lag time and first‐order elimination as well as a log additive error. In this popPK model, lower population estimates of central volume for Asian patients versus Caucasian patients did not translate into clinical meaningful differences in oral paclitaxel exposure. Age, sex, body weight or surface area, mild hepatic impairment, and mild to moderate renal impairment had no clinically meaningful effects on the systemic exposure of oral paclitaxel. Simulations were performed on clinical therapeutic dose (oral paclitaxel 205 mg/m2 once daily ×3 days per week) to predict exposure of oral paclitaxel and to support treatment benefits observed in a pivotal phase III trial.
To comment on the article in this issue of the Journal by Professor Michael Rutter, "Environmentally Mediated Risks for Psychopathology: Research Strategies and Findings," in the context of current ...research findings on gene-environment interaction, epigenetics, and gene expression.
Animal and human studies are reviewed that differentiate the role of gene expression in developmental biology and psychopathology as well as studies that begin to specify the biological mechanisms involved in determining how genotype is translated into phenotype.
Genetic instructions are not translated directly into phenotypic traits but are modified potentially at two levels: the transcription process wherein messenger RNA is produced, and translation when protein synthesis occurs. Interplay of genetic and environmental factors determines the final product of gene expression as measured by the when, where, and amount of protein synthesized. Epigenetic processes may operate at the level of messenger RNA to control gene expression.
The field of developmental psychopathology is providing the theoretical and research framework to explore the conceptual space between the genome and the environment. Natural selection has provided mechanisms that operate within that space to facilitate adaptation to the environment. These mechanisms are more robust than genetics alone in determining the phenotype of each individual organism.
Intravenous paclitaxel (IVpac) is complicated by neuropathy and requires premedication to prevent hypersensitivity-type reactions. Paclitaxel is poorly absorbed orally; encequidar (E), a novel ...P-glycoprotein pump inhibitor, allows oral absorption.
A phase III open-label study comparing oral paclitaxel plus E (oPac + E) 205 mg/m
paclitaxel plus 15 mg E methanesulfonate monohydrate 3 consecutive days per week versus IVpac 175 mg/m
once every 3 weeks was performed. Women with metastatic breast cancer and adequate organ function, at least 1 year from last taxane, were randomly assigned 2:1 to oPac + E versus IVpac. The primary end point was confirmed radiographic response using RECIST 1.1, assessed by blinded independent central review. Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).
Four hundred two patients from Latin America were enrolled (265 oPac + E, 137 IVpac); demographics and prior therapies were balanced. The confirmed response (intent-to-treat) was 36% for oPac + E versus 23% for IVpac (
= .01). The PFS was 8.4 versus 7.4 months, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.768; 95.5% CI, 0.584 to 1.01;
= .046), and the OS was 22.7 versus 16.5 months, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.794; 95.5% CI, 0.607 to 1.037;
= .08). Grade 3-4 adverse reactions were 55% with oPac + E and 53% with IVpac. oPac + E had lower incidence and severity of neuropathy (2%
15% > grade 2) and alopecia (49%
62% all grades) than IVpac but more nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and neutropenic complications, particularly in patients with elevated liver enzymes. On-study deaths (8% oPac + E
9% IVpac) were treatment-related in 3% and 0%, respectively.
oPac + E increased the confirmed tumor response versus IVpac, with trends in PFS and OS. Neuropathy was less frequent and severe with oPac + E; neutropenic serious infections were increased. Elevated liver enzymes at baseline predispose oPac + E patients to early neutropenia and serious infections (funded by Athenex, Inc; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02594371).
Understanding and managing prescription opioid abuse is one of the major challenges in pain management worldwide. The relationships between prescriptive usage of opioids and reported morbidity at the ...national level, using data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), were examined. When the major prescription opioids were evaluated, the association between prescriptive medical use in kilograms and reported morbidity, as measured by a ratio between the two, was similar for the intermediate-potency opioids (hydrocodone, methadone, oxycodone, and morphine). This rate was much lower for low-potency opioids (codeine, meperidine, pentazocine, and propoxyphene) and much greater for high-potency opioids (hydromorphone and fentanyl). When the drugs were adjusted by potency (relative to morphine), the rates of reported morbidity per kilogram of morphine equivalent opioid in prescriptive usage were similar among the opioids. Using the potency-adjusted total kilograms of opioid in prescriptive use for all the opioids evaluated, there was a statistically significant association (
r
2
=
0.9791) with the reported morbidity for prescription analgesics as a class, as measured in the DAWN system. These data suggest that non-medical use of opioids is predictable based on potency and extent of prescriptive use.
Summary
Poor tolerance to standard therapies and multi-drug resistance complicate treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It is therefore imperative to explore novel ...tolerable agents and target alternative pathways. KX2-391 is an oral non-ATP-competitive inhibitor of Src kinase and tubulin polymerization. This multi-center phase Ib open-label safety and activity study involved elderly patients with relapsed or refractory AML, or who declined standard chemotherapy. Twenty-four patients averaging 74 years of age were enrolled. The majority previously received hypomethylating agents. Five doses were tested: 40 mg (n = 1), 80 mg (n = 2), 120 mg (n = 8), 140 mg (n = 12), and 160 mg (n = 1). Seven patients were treated for 12 days or less, nine for 15–29 days, five for 33–58 days, and three for 77–165 days. One patient receiving 120 mg for 165 days had reduced splenomegaly and survived 373 days. Another had no evidence of disease progression for 154 days. One patient receiving 160 mg for 12 days remained treatment-free for about 18 months. Dose-limiting toxicities occurred in eight patients at: 120 mg (transaminitis, hyperbilirubinemia), 140 mg (mucositis, allergic reaction, transaminitis, acute kidney injury), and 160 mg (mucositis). The maximum tolerated dose for KX2-391 was 120 mg once daily. KX2-391 bone marrow concentrations were approximately similar to plasma concentrations. This is the first study to evaluate the safety of KX2-391 in elderly patients with AML. Further studies are warranted, including alternative dosing phase I trials evaluating shorter courses at higher doses and phase II trials. (
Clinical Trial Registration
:The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01397799 (July 20, 2011)).
Purpose
Oraxol is an oral formulation of paclitaxel administered with a novel, minimally absorbed P-glycoprotein inhibitor encequidar (HM30181A). This phase Ib study was conducted to determine the ...maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of Oraxol administered at a fixed dose for up to 5 consecutive days in patients with advanced malignancies.
Methods
Part 1 of this study utilized a 3 + 3 dose-escalation design to determine the MTD of oral paclitaxel 270 mg plus oral encequidar 15 mg administered daily. Dose escalation was achieved by increasing the number of consecutive dosing days per week (from 2 to 5 days per week). Dosing occurred for 3 consecutive weeks out of a 4-week cycle. Part 2 treated additional patients at the MTD to determine tolerability and recommended phase II dose (RP2D). Adverse events, tumor responses, and pharmacokinetic profiles were assessed.
Results
A total of 34 patients (
n
= 24 in Part 1,
n
= 10 in Part 2) received treatment. The MTD of Oraxol was determined to be 270 mg daily × 5 days per week per protocol definition and this was declared the RP2D. The most common treatment-related adverse events were fatigue, neutropenia, and nausea/vomiting. Hypersensitivity-type reactions were not observed. Of the 28 patients evaluable for response, 2 (7.1%) achieved partial response and 18 (64.3%) achieved stable disease. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed rapid absorption of paclitaxel when administered orally following encequidar. Paclitaxel daily exposure was comparable following 2–5 days dose levels.
Conclusion
The oral administration of encequidar with paclitaxel was safe, achieved clinically relevant paclitaxel levels, and showed evidence of anti-tumor activity.