709 research outputs found
Cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil and interferon alpha 2b for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.
On the basis of preclinical data suggesting the possibility of maximising the efficacy of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin by interferon, a pilot clinical trial was initiated in recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer. Thirty-four patients were treated with cisplatin at 100 mg m-2, followed by 5-fluorouracil at 1,000 mg m-2 by continuous infusion for 5 days. Interferon alpha 2b was administered at the dose of 3 million U i.m. daily for 7 days, beginning the day before chemotherapy. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. Two patients achieved a complete remission, six a partial response, 14 had stable disease and 12 progressed on therapy, for an overall response rate of 23% (95% confidence interval 10-36%). Median survival time was 5 months. Toxicity was severe. Stomatitis, diarrhoea and myelosuppression were the most common side-effects. Because of the poor response rate and the presence of severe toxicity, in our opinion further clinical trials in head and neck cancer should be attempted only after a better definition in preclinical studies of interactions among 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin and interferon
A phase II study of weekly cisplatin, 6S-stereoisomer leucovorin and fluorouracil as first-line chemotherapy for elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer
The incidence of gastric cancer (GC) increases significantly after the fifth decade and palliative chemotherapy is the ultimate treatment in the majority of patients. We investigated safety and efficacy of a weekly regimen with cisplatin, fluorouracil and leucovorin as first-line chemotherapy for elderly patients with advanced GC. Chemotherapy-naive patients older than 65 years were considered eligible for study entry. Frail elderly patients were identified and excluded according to the following criteria: age >85 years, dependence in one or more activities of daily living (activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living scales), three or more comorbid conditions, one or more geriatric syndromes. Chemotherapy consisted of 1-day per week administration of intravenous cisplatin 35 mg m(-2), 6S-stereoisomer leucovorin 250 mg m(-2) and fluorouracil 500 mg m(-2) (PLF). Patients were re-evaluated after eight weekly cycles and six additional weekly administrations were planned for patients without disease progression. A 5-day subcutaneous filgrastim (5 mug Kg(-1) day(-1), days +1-+5) was used after the first treatment delay for neutropenia and maintained thereafter. In the whole group, the best intention-to-treat overall response rate was 43\% (95\% CI: 30-56\%). The time to disease progression and the median survival time were 5.3 and 8.6 months, respectively. Fatigue was the commonest nonhaematologic toxicity (71\% of the patients). Filgrastim was used in 30 patients who showed grade II (20 patients) or grade III (10 patients) neutropenia. Neither grade IV toxicity nor toxic deaths were observed. The weekly PLF regimen resulted safe and effective in elderly patients with advanced GC. This outpatient regimen is based on old and low-cost drugs and it may represent an alternative to new and more expensive combinations
Immunohistochemical mismatch repair proteins expression as a tool to predict the melanoma immunotherapy response
In difference to other solid malignancies, the identification of biomarkers for the prediction of malignant melanoma (MM) response to immunotherapy is limited. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of MMR proteins in a cohort of MM metastatic patients receiving anti PD-1 treatments. The therapeutic response of patients was also retrospectively assessed. The cohort of the current study included 14 patients with advanced MM that had received anti PD-1 from January 2014 to December 2016 (12 males, 2 females; average age, 71 years; age range, 47-88 years). IHC analysis of MLH1, PMS2, MSH2 and MSH6 proteins was performed on paraffin-embedded primary tumor samples from each patient and on the 23 available metastasis specimens obtained from the Division of Pathology (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia). The results revealed that 7% of the primary melanoma tissue obtained from the patient cohort exhibited the loss of expression of at least one MMR protein. Three samples from one patient, including one primary melanoma and two metastases, exhibited no MSH6 expression and had the most successful response to anti PD-1 treatment, with a progression-free survival and overall survival of 956 and 2,546 days, respectively. In conclusion, the assessment of MMR protein expression represents a potential predictive marker that may have critical importance for patients with primary and metastatic MM, primarily as criterion for the adoption of immunotherapy treatments
Pre and post anti Her-2 therapy era: a mono-institutional analysis of the outcome in patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy for Her-2 positive locally advanced breast cancer.
Background: Anti Her-2+ therapies (aH2Tx) have changed the outcome of women
with Her2 positive (Her2+) breast cancer and its activity showed a considerable impact
in the neoadjuvant setting in which a higher rate of pathologic complete response
(pCR) was observed. Of interest is the difference in outcome of patients who did not
achieved a pCR and the analysis of the residual disease (RD) represents a relevant issue
to explore to identify the subset of patients ( pts) with different outcome.
Methods: 67 consecutive Her-2+ pts with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC)
treated since 1993 to 2015 and who did not reached a pCR were evaluated. A minimum
of three years of follow up was requested for the outcome analysis. Overall survival
(OS) and disease free survival (DFS) has been explored in the two cohorts and the type
of RD after neoadjuvant aH2Tx was also examined. Immunochemistry expression for
estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) in the primary tumor for the
aH2Tx-not-receiving pts was: 8 pts was ER/PR negative, 10 were ER/PR positive, 6
were ER-/PR + , 1 ER + /PR-. In the aH2Tx-receiving group: 26 were ER/PR + , 6 were
ER + /PR-, 10 were ER/PR negative.
Results: 25 pts did not receive aH2Tx in the neoadjuvant and 19 did not in adjuvant
setting. 42 pts received aH2Tx in the neoadjuvant and 35 also in the adjuvant setting.
Eleven pts in the aH2Tx-non-receiving group had recurrent disease compared with five
recurrences in the aH2Tx-receiving group. The subtypes of RD in the aH2Tx
not-receiving group were as follow: 4 had Luminal A like disease, 2 Luminal B like, 1
was triple negative, 18 were Her2+. For the aH2Tx-receiving group: 4 were Luminal A
like, 5 Luminal B like, 30 were Her2+. The subtype of RD in the aH2Tx-not-receiving
group with recurrent disease it has changed in 2 out of 11 pts if compared to primary
tumor and in 2 out of 5 pts of the aH2Tx-receiving group.
Conclusion: Recurrent disease was observed more often in the non-receiving aH2Tx
pts, the analysis of impact of RD on outcome is still pending and will be presented at
the meeting. Optimizing the selection of aH2Tx by identifying subpopulations of
Her-2+ pts who need more or less therapy could be cost effective and would spare
some patients unnecessary exposure to ineffective treatments
Male mammary myofibroblastoma: Two case reports and brief review of literature
Myofibroblastoma of the breast is a rare benign stromal tumor that occurs in both sexes with a higher prevalence in male breast of older populations. Furthermore, myofibroblastoma can arise in extra mammary sites, along the milk-line. A variety of morphological variants in addition to the classic type have been identified. The differential diagnosis includes both benign and malignant entities that, through the use of clinical and radiological imaging, is difficult to characterize. Histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry are fundamental in the establishment of appropriate management of the disease and avoidance of overtreatment. The present study focuses on two cases of male mammary myofibroblastoma, with a short literature review
CXC and CC chemokines as angiogenic modulators in nonhaematological tumors.
Chemokines are a superfamily of structurally homologous heparin-binding proteins that includes potent inducers and inhibitors of angiogenesis. The imbalance between angiogenic and angiostatic chemokine activities can lead to abnormalities, such as chronic inflammation, dysplastic transformation, and even tumor development and spreading. In this review, we summarize the current literature regarding the role of chemokines as modulators of tumor angiogenesis and their potential role as therapeutic targets in patients with nonhaematological tumors
A phase II study of sequential chemotherapy with docetaxel after the weekly PELF regimen in advanced gastric cancer. A report from the Italian group for the study of digestive tract cancer
In advanced gastric cancer, we investigated feasibility and activity of sequential chemotherapy with docetaxel after an intensive weekly regimen consisting of cisplatin, epidoxorubicin, fluorouracil, leucovorin (PELF) plus filgrastim. Chemotherapy-naive patients with relapsed or metastatic gastric cancer received 8 weekly administrations of chemotherapy with cisplatin 40 mg/m2, fluorouracil 500 mg/m2,epi-doxorubicin 35 mg/m2, 6S-steroisomer of leucovorin 250 mg/m2and glutathione 1.5 g/m2. On the other days filgrastim 5 μg kg–1was administered by subcutanous injection. Subsequently, patients with partial response or stable disease received 3 cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m2every 3 weeks. 40 patients have been enrolled and they are evaluable for response and toxicity. After the PELF regimen, 3 patients achieved complete response, 13 patients showed partial response, 21 patients had stable disease and 3 patients progressed (40% response rate; 95% CI 25% to 55%). After docetaxel, 9 out 34 patients improved the outcome (26.5%); 7 patients with stable disease achieved partial response and 2 patients with partial response achieved complete response. The overall response rate in the 40 patients was 57.5% (95% CI, 42.5% to 72.5%). The PELF regimen did not cause any grade IV toxicity, the most frequent grade III acute side-effects were thrombocytopenia and vomiting which occurred in the 10% of 320 PELF cycles. Docetaxel caused grade III–IV neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in the 10% and the 19% of cycles respectively. Fatigue was a frequent side-effect during both PELF and docetaxel chemotherapy. The sequential application of docetaxel after PELF chemotherapy gained major objective responses with manageable toxicity. This strategy is worth of further investigation in the setting of palliative or neoadjuvant chemotherapy. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co
A phase I, dose-escalation study of volasertib combined with nintedanib in advanced solid tumors
Background: Volasertib is a potent and selective cell-cycle kinase inhibitor that induces mitotic arrest and apoptosis by targeting Polo-like kinases. This study determined the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and pharmacokinetics of volasertib combined with nintedanib, a potent and orally bioavailable triple angiokinase inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors. Patients and methods: This open-label, dose-escalation trial recruited patients with advanced metastatic solid tumors following failure of conventional treatment (NCT01022853; Study 1230.7). Volasertib was administered by intravenous infusion over 2 h, starting at 100 mg in the first dose cohort. Nintedanib was administered orally at a dose of 200 mg twice daily. The first treatment cycle comprised 28 days (days 1-7 and days 9-28: nintedanib; day 8: volasertib). From cycle 2 onwards, volasertib was administered on day 1 of a 21-day cycle and nintedanib was administered days 2-21. The primary objective was the MTD of volasertib in combination with nintedanib. Results: Thirty patients were treated. The MTD of volasertib plus fixed-dose nintedanib was 300 mg once every 3 weeks, the same as the recommended single-agent dose of volasertib in solid tumors. Two of 12 assessable patients treated with the MTD experienced dose-limiting toxicities [grade 3 increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT); grade 3 ALT increase and grade 3 increased aspartate aminotransferase]. Disease control [stable disease (SD)/partial response (PR)/complete response (CR)] was achieved in 18 patients (60%): 1 CR (breast cancer), 1 PR (nonsmall-cell lung cancer), and 16 patients with SD. Volasertib showed that multiexponential pharmacokinetic behavior and co-administration of nintedanib had no significant effects on its exposure. Conclusions: Volasertib could be combined with fixed-dose nintedanib at the recommended single-agent dose. At this dose, the combination had a manageable safety profile without unexpected or overlapping adverse events, and showed antitumor activity
Intensive weekly chemotherapy is not effective in advanced pancreatic cancer patients: a report from the Italian Group for the Study of Digestive Tract Cancer (GISCAD)
Twenty-two patients, with locally advanced unresectable and/or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma, received weekly administration of cisplatin 40 mg m−2, 5-fluorouracil 500 mg m−2, epidoxorubicin 35 mg m−2, 6S stereoisomer of leucovorin 250 mg m−2 and glutathione 1.5 mg m−2, supported by a daily administration of lenograstim at a dose of 5 μg kg−1. Nineteen patients were men and three were women. Median age was 63 years (range 47–70). At study entry, pain was present in 15 out of 22 patients (68%) with a mean value of Scott–Huskisson scale of 27.6 ± 23.8, whereas a weight loss >10% was present in 15 patients. After eight weekly treatments, three partial responses were achieved for a response rate of 13% (95% CI 0–26%), five patients had stable disease and 14 progressed on therapy. Pain was present in 9 out of 22 patients (40%) with a mean value of Scott–Huskisson scale of 12.3 ± 18.4. Eight patients (36%) (three partial response and five stable disease) had a positive weight change. Toxicity was mild: WHO grade III or IV toxicity was recorded in terms of anaemia in 7 out of 188 cycles (3.7%), of neutropenia in 9 out of 188 cycles (4.7%) and of thrombocytopenia in 3 out of 188 cycles (1.5%). Median survival of all patients was 6 months. The outcome of this intensive chemotherapy regimen does not support its use in pancreatic cancer. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
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