{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.040805785123966945, 'fraction_numerical': 0.026859504132231406, 'mean_word_length': 4.96, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
A phase ib study of safety and pharmacokinetics of ramucirumab in combination with paclitaxel in patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinomas.

LESSONS LEARNED
The pharmacokinetic results of this phase Ib study of ramucirumab combined with paclitaxel as second-line therapy in Japanese patients with metastatic gastric or gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma are in line with previous ramucirumab studies.This combination at the doses and schedule given did not result in any dose-limiting toxicities and appeared to be safe and well tolerated.


BACKGROUND
This phase Ib study evaluated the tolerability and pharmacokinetics of ramucirumab, an anti-VEGFR-2 antibody, combined with paclitaxel as second-line therapy in Japanese patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma after first-line therapy with fluoropyrimidines and/or platinum.


METHODS
Patients received ramucirumab 8 mg/kg on days 1 and 15 and paclitaxel 80 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Safety analyses included all patients (n = 6).


RESULTS
No dose-limiting toxicities occurred in the first cycle. All patients experienced ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE); 5 patients experienced grade ≥3 TEAEs. There were two deaths caused by disease progression. The best overall responses were stable disease (n = 5) and partial response (n = 1). Patients received ramucirumab and paclitaxel for a median of 12.5 weeks (range: 11.4-42.7 weeks) and 12.2 weeks (range: 11.0-41.0 weeks), respectively. Following a single dose of ramucirumab IV infusion 8 mg/kg, clearance was ∼0.017 L/hour, half-life (t1/2) was 138 to 225 hours, and steady-state volume of distribution (Vss) was ∼3 L.


CONCLUSION
The ramucirumab/paclitaxel combination appears to be well-tolerated in Japanese patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinomas. These results are in line with previous ramucirumab pharmacokinetic studies as anticipated.