Lactate dehydrogenase in hepatocellular carcinoma: something old, something new

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumour (80-90%) and represents more than 5.7% of all cancers. Although in recent years the therapeutic options for these patients have increased, clinical results are yet unsatisfactory and the prognosis remains dismal. Clinical or molecular criteria allowing a more accurate selection of patients are in fact largely lacking. Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) is a glycolytic key enzyme in the conversion of pyruvate to lactate under anaerobic conditions. In preclinical models, upregulation of LDH has been suggested to ensure both an efficient anaerobic/glycolytic metabolism and a reduced dependence on oxygen under hypoxic conditions in tumour cells. Data from several analyses on different tumour types seem to suggest that LDH levels may be a significant prognostic factor. The role of LDH in HCC has been investigated by different authors in heterogeneous populations of patients. It has been tested as a potential biomarker in retrospective, small, and nonfocused studies in patients undergoing surgery, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), and systemic therapy. In the major part of these studies, high LDH serum levels seem to predict a poorer outcome. We have reviewed literature in this setting trying to resume basis for future studies validating the role of LDH in this diseas

Angiogenesis genotyping in the selection of first-line treatment with either sunitinib or pazopanib for advanced renal cell carcinoma

Recent data from the COMPARZ study seem to suggest a noninferiority of pazopanib confronted with sunitinib in PFS and OS. We previously reported how VEGF and VEGFR polymorphisms might have a predictive role in patients treated with first-line sunitinib. Aim of our study was to investigate whether tumour angiogenesis genotyping could influence clinical outcome in RCC patients treated with either sunitinib or pazopanib, in order to help clinicians select the appropriate treatment for each patient. Results: 19 patients were treated with pazopanib while 78 received sunitinib. VEGF A rs833061 resulted significant in PFS in sunitinib vs pazopanib patients (CC+CT > TT in sunitinib, TT > CC+CT in pazopanib; p CC in sunitinib, CC > GG+CG in pazopanib; p CC in sunitinib, CC > AA+AC in pazopanib; p < 0,0001). OS showed no statistically significant difference. Conclusions: In our analysis patients with opposite polymorphisms of rs833061, rs2010963, rs699947 of VEGF A seems to have a better PFS if treated with either sunitinib or pazopanib. Our data seem to suggest that biology could have a role choosing first line treatment for mRCC patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis on 97 histologic samples of mRCC patients was conducted for VEGF-A, VEGF-C and VEGFR-1,2,3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs

An observational retrospective analysis of the main metastatic site and corresponding locoregional treatment as a prognostic factor in metastatic gastric cancer

Despite novel drugs, the prognosis for patients with metastatic gastric cancer remains poor. In rare instances, locoregional therapies are used in addition to standard chemotherapy in patients with oligometastatic involvement. This type of approach has not been supported by solid published evidence. The aim of the present retrospective study was to assess the prognostic impact of factors such as metastatic site, tumour histology and locoregional treatment in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. A total of 184 patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma who received at least one line of palliative therapy with doublet or triplet chemotherapy were enrolled in the current analysis. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.32 months (95% CI, 7.02-9.41) and median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.16 months (95% CI, 3.24-5.08). Lung metastases vs. other sites of metastatic involvement [hazard ratio (HR), 0.27; P=0.0133] and intestinal histology (HR, 0.48; P=0.08) were significantly associated with an improved OS. Improved PFS was also observed (HR, 0.49; P=0.10 and HR, 0.72; P=0.08 for lung metastases and intestinal histology, respectively). Second line chemotherapy and locoregional treatment of metastases (surgery or radiotherapy) were associated with improved OS (HR, 0.52; P<0.0001 and HR, 0.35; P<0.0001, respectively). Multivariate analysis confirmed an independent prognostic role for OS only for locoregional treatment, second line treatment and intestinal histology. The present results suggested that the presence of lung metastases alone was not a relevant prognostic factor and was influenced by the availability of further lines of treatment or by locoregional treatments. Locoregional treatments in patients with oligometastatic disease should be offered as they allow prolonged survival in patients with otherwise relatively short life expectancy

Clinical Outcome of Elderly (>70Y) Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

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Prognostic clinical factors in pretreated colorectal cancer patients receiving regorafenib: implications for clinical management

We assessed the impact on survival of angiogenesis and inflammation-related factors, particularly LDH serum levels, platelet, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), in metastatic colorectal cancer patients receiving regorafenib monotherapy

Clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of exocrine pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Evidence evaluation and recommendations by the italian association of medical oncology (AIOM)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women (7%) and the sixth in men (5%) in Italy, with a life expectancy of around 5% at 5 years. From 2010, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) developed national guidelines for several cancers. In this report, we report a summary of clinical recommendations of diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of PDAC, which may guide physicians in their current practice. A panel of AIOM experts in upper gastrointestinal cancer malignancies discussed the available scientific evidence supporting the clinical recommendations

Cancer stem cell gene profile as predictor of relapse in high risk stage II and stage III, radically resected colon cancer patients.

Clinical data indicate that prognostic stratification of radically resected colorectal cancer based on disease stage only may not be always be adequate. Preclinical findings suggest that cancer stem cells may influence the biological behaviour of colorectal cancer independently from stage: objective of the study was to assess whether a panel of stemness markers were correlated with clinical outcome in resected stage II and III colon cancer patients. A panel of 66 markers of stemness were analysed and thus patients were divided into two groups (A and B) with most patients clustering in a manner consistent with different time to relapse by using a statistical algorithm. A total of 62 patients were analysed. Thirty-six (58%) relapsed during the follow-up period (range 1.63-86.5 months). Twelve (19%) and 50 (81%) patients were allocated into group A and B, respectively. A significantly different median relapse-free survival was observed between the 2 groups (22.18 vs 42.85 months, p=0.0296). Among of all genes tested, those with the higher "weight" in determining different prognosis were CD44, ALCAM, DTX2, HSPA9, CCNA2, PDX1, MYST1, COL1A1 and ABCG2. This analysis supports the idea that, other than stage, biological variables, such as expression levels of colon cancer stem cell genes, may be relevant in determining an increased risk of relapse in resected colorectal cancer patient