Outcomes of Vismodegib for Periocular Locally Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma From an Open-label Trial

The outcomes of vismodegib treatment in a relatively large cohort of study participants with periocular locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (POLA-BCC) may guide physicians when considering this treatment.

To report the outcomes of vismodegib treatment in patients with POLA-BCC in the Safety Events in Vismodegib (STEVIE) study.

This post hoc subgroup analysis from the STEVIE single-arm, multicenter, open-label cohort study screened all 1215 participants for ocular or periocular involvement and identified 244 participants with POLA-BCC or metastatic BCC. Data for the first STEVIE trial were collected from 167 treatment locations in 36 countries from June 30, 2011, to June 14, 2017. This post hoc analysis was performed from April 1 to August 31, 2019.

Response to treatment and adverse events.

Ocular or periocular involvement was found in 244 of 1215 STEVIE participants (20.1%), who constituted the analytic sample. The median age of the study participants was 72.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 60.0-82.0]) years, and they included 143 men (58.6%). Locally advanced BCC was diagnosed in 238 of the 244 participants (97.5%) and metastatic BCC, in 6 (2.5%). The median duration of exposure to vismodegib was 40.0 (IQR, 20.0-78.0) weeks, specifically 39.7 (IQR, 19.9-76.0) weeks for POLA-BCC and 92.4 (IQR, 53.2-163.0) weeks for metastatic BCC. Sixty-nine participants (28.3%) sustained serious adverse events (alopecia, muscle spasms, dysgeusia, weight loss, decreased appetite, asthenia, ageusia, nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea). Two hundred thirty-two study participants (95.1%) sustained more than 1 adverse effect. The overall mean (SD) number of drug-related adverse effects per study participant by first adverse event, regardless of the severity, was 5.48 (3.84). Discontinuation of vismodegib treatment owing to an adverse event was recorded in 58 participants (23.8%). During the study, 22 participants (9.0%) died, 70 (28.7%) achieved complete response, and 94 (38.5%) achieved partial response.

Vismodegib was well tolerated by the study participants with POLA-BCC. The safety of vismodegib treatment according to the STEVIE trial findings is consistent with that reported in previous studies. These data may be helpful when considering vismodegib for patients with POLA-BCC.