Prognostic and Predictive Role of Body Mass Index (BMI) in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC): A Pooled Analisys of Tribe and Tribe-2 Studies by GONO

The role of body mass index is unclear in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. We analyzed data from 1160 pts enrolled in TRIBE and TRIBE-2 trials. Our analyses showed that BMI was neither prognostic nor predictive for PFS and OS. Background: Obesity is associated with an increased risk of development and recurrence of colorectal cancer. The role of obesity in metastatic colorectal cancer patients (pts) is still unclear, especially in those treated with triplet plus bevacizumab (bev). The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive role of BMI in metastatic colorec- tal cancer pts treated with FOLFOXIRI plus bev or FOLFIRI/FOLFOX plus bev in the TRIBE and TRIBE-2 trial. materials and Methods: A total of 1160 pts enrolled in TRIBE and TRIBE-2 trials were included. Baseline height and weight were used to assign pts to one of the following BMI categories: underweight (group A = BMI 30 kg/m 2 ; 156 pts). Results: In our population, no differences in terms of PFS ( P = .43) or OS ( P = .99) resulted between 3 groups. No interaction effect between treatment arm and BMI was evident in terms of PFS (Group A HR: 0.65 [95%CI: 0.36-1.16]; Group B HR: 0.77 [95%CI: 0.67-0.88]; Group C HR: 0.67 [95%CI: 0.48-0.93]; P for interaction = .75) or OS (Group A HR: 0.57 [95%CI: 0.29-1.12]; Group B HR: 0.85 [95%CI: 0.73-0.99];Group C HR: 0.69 [95%CI: 0.48-1.01] P for interaction = .36). No statistically significant difference in terms of dose reductions due to toxicities were found according to BMI in the overall population ( P = .48) and in pts treated with FOLFOXIRI plus bev ( P = .57). Conclusion: BMI was neither prognostic or predictive for PFS and OS in our population. Our analyses showed that the advantage of FOLFOXIRI plus bev versus FOLFIRI/FOLFOX plus bev was independent from BMI

Early onset metastatic colorectal cancer in patients receiving panitumumab-based upfront strategy: Overall and sex-specific outcomes in the Valentino trial

Anti-EGFRs plus doublet chemotherapy is considered the optimal upfront option for RAS/BRAF wild-type left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Early-onset (EO) mCRC has an increasing incidence and its prognostic/predictive role and management is debatable. We performed a post hoc analysis of Valentino study, that randomized RAS wild-type mCRC patients to two panitumumab-based maintenance regimens after FOLFOX/panitumumab induction. We assessed the safety and efficacy outcomes in patients stratified for age (<50/>= 50 years old). We assessed progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), response rate (ORR), rate of treatment-related and panitumumab-related adverse events (AEs) and quality of life (QoL). In 229 patients enrolled, 35 (15%) had EO mCRC, with a higher rate of female sex (P = .020) and lower rate of primary tumor resection (P = .001). Median PFS and OS were 10.9 vs 10.8 months (P = .593) and 28.1 vs 27.5 months (P = .865) in patients <50 and >= 50 years old, respectively, with no significant impact of maintenance arm. ORR and disease control rate were 74% vs 65% (P = .337) and 97% vs 81% (P = .013) in patients <50 or >= 50 years old. In younger patients, a trend for increased chemotherapy-related AEs (peculiarly anemia) was shown, while significantly decreased EGFR-related hypomagnesemia and increased skin rash were reported. No significant differences in treatment intensity or QoL were observed. In patients with EO mCRC and RAS wild-type status, we found no differences in terms of survival outcomes based on age when selecting maintenance strategies. Management of treatment-related AEs should consider the differential toxicity profile of age and sex

Specific Detection of Cytokeratin 20-Positive Cells in Blood of Colorectal and Breast Cancer Patients by a High Sensitivity Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction Method

A real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method for detection of cytokeratin 20-positive cells in blood characterized by two novel features was developed and tested on 99 patients with colorectal cancer, 110 with breast cancer, and 150 healthy subjects. To optimize the specificity and sensitivity of the method, two novel features were used. First, a primer overlapping two adjacent exons was generated to inhibit nonspecific amplification both in healthy donors and cancer patients; second, a non-end-point first-round amplification was used to increase sensitivity. The number of first-round cycles was chosen to reach the highest level of sensitivity while conserving quantitative characteristics. PCR efficiency increased from 88.9% in single-round RT-PCR to 99.0% in nested real-time RT-PCR. To establish sensitivity and specificity of the method, HT29 cells were serially diluted with normal blood. Detection limit improved from 100 HT29 cells (single-round RT-PCR) to 1 to 10 cells (nested real-time RT-PCR) per 3 ml of whole blood. None of the healthy subjects was positive, whereas 22 and 29% of all colorectal and breast cancer patients, respectively, had cytokeratin 20 cell equivalents in blood. The association between cytokeratin 20 cell equivalents and metastasis was statistically significant for breast (P = 0.026) but not colorectal cancer patients (P = 0.361). Negativity of all 150 healthy controls examined confers diagnostic potential to the method