Curative radiation therapy in prostate cancer.

Radiotherapy has experienced an extremely rapid development in recent years. Important improvements such as the introduction of multileaf collimators and computed tomography (CT)-based treatment planning software have enabled three dimensional conformal external beam radiation therapy (3DCRT). The development of treatment planning systems and technology for brachytherapy has been very rapid as well. Development of accelerators with integrated on-board imaging equipment and technology, for example image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) has further improved the precision with reduced margins to adjacent normal tissues. This has, in turn, led to the possibility to administer even higher doses to the prostate than previously. Although radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy have been used for the last decades as curative treatment modalities, still there are no randomized trials published comparing these two options. Outcome data show that the two treatment modalities are highly comparable when used for low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer

Real-world cost-effectiveness of targeted therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Sweden: a population-based retrospective analysis

Josefine Redig,1 Johan Dalén,1 Ulrika Harmenberg,2 Magnus Lindskog,3 Börje Ljungberg,4 Sven Lundstam,5 Rickard Sandin,6 Thomas Wahlgren,6 Örjan Åkerborg,1 Maria Jakobsson6 1ICON, Stockholm, Sweden; 2Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; 3Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; 4Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology and Andrology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; 5Department of Urology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; 6Pfizer AB, Sollentuna, Sweden Objective: To explore cost-effectiveness of targeted therapies (TTs) in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in a real-world context using a nationwide population-based approach.Methods: Data on patients diagnosed with mRCC between 2002 and 2012 were extracted from Swedish national health data registers. To facilitate comparisons of patients diagnosed before and after TT introduction to the market, three cohorts were derived: pre-TT introduction (preTT), patients diagnosed 2002–2005; early TT introduction (TTi), patients diagnosed 2006–2008; and late TT introduction (TTii), which was limited to patients diagnosed 2009–2010 to ensure availability of total health care resource utilization (HCRU) data. Patients were followed until end of 2012. The value of TTs across cohorts was estimated using mean HCRU costs per life-year (LY) gained. Data on HCRU were obtained through national health registers for dispensed medication and inpatient and outpatient care, and the associated costs were estimated using the Lin method to account for censoring. LYs gained were defined as the difference in mean survival over the study period.Results: The preTT, TTi, and TTii cohorts consisted of 1,366, 1,158, and 806 patients, respectively. Mean survival in years from mRCC diagnosis was 1.45 in the preTT cohort, 1.62 in the TTi cohort, and 1.83 in the TTii cohort. The respective mean total HCRU cost per patient over the study period was US$16,894, US$29,922, and US$30,037. The cost per LY gained per cohort was US$78,656 for TTi vs preTT, US$34,132 for TTii vs preTT, and US$523 for TTii vs TTi.Conclusion: Given common willingness-to-pay per LY gained thresholds, this study in a real-world population suggests the use of TTs in the Swedish mRCC population is increasingly cost-effective over time. Keywords: metastatic renal cell carcinoma, targeted therapy, cost-effectiveness, Sweden &nbsp

Phase II study of sunitinib administered in a continuous once-daily dosing regimen in patients with cytokine-refractory metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Contains fulltext : 81935.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)PURPOSE: Sunitinib has demonstrated antitumor activity in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) when given at 50 mg/d on a 4-weeks-on 2-weeks-off regimen. Herein, we report results of an open-label, multicenter phase II mRCC study of sunitinib administered on a continuous once-daily dosing regimen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eligibility criteria included histologically proven mRCC with measurable disease, failure of one prior cytokine regimen, and good performance status. Patients were randomly assigned to a sunitinib starting dose of 37.5 mg/d in the morning (AM) or evening (PM). RECIST-defined objective response rate (ORR) was the primary end point. Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), adverse events (AEs), and quality-of-life measures. RESULTS: One hundred seven patients were randomly assigned to AM (n = 54) or PM (n = 53) dosing and on study for a median 8.3 months. Eighty-three patients discontinued, 65 due to disease progression and 16 because of AEs; two patients withdrew consent. Dosing was reduced to 25 mg/d in 46 patients (43%) due to grade 3/4 AEs. The most common grade 3 treatment-related AEs were asthenia/fatigue (16%), diarrhea (11%), hypertension (11%), hand-foot syndrome (9%), and anorexia (8%). ORR was 20% with a 7.2-month median response duration. Median PFS and OS were 8.2 and 19.8 months, respectively, at median follow-up of 26.4 months. Efficacy, tolerability, and quality-of-life results were similar between patients dosed in the AM or PM. CONCLUSION: Sunitinib 37.5 mg, administered on a continuous once-daily dosing regimen, has a manageable safety profile as second-line mRCC therapy, providing flexible dosing, which can be explored in combination studies

An expression signature at diagnosis to estimate prostate cancer patients' overall survival

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify biomarkers for estimating the overall and prostate cancer (PCa)-specific survival in PCa patients at diagnosis. METHODS: To explore the importance of embryonic stem cell (ESC) gene signatures, we identified 641 ESC gene predictors (ESCGPs) using published microarray data sets. ESCGPs were selected in a stepwise manner, and were combined with reported genes. Selected genes were analyzed by multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction using prostate fine-needle aspiration samples taken at diagnosis from a Swedish cohort of 189 PCa patients diagnosed between 1986 and 2001. Of these patients, there was overall and PCa-specific survival data available for 97.9%, and 77.9% were primarily treated by hormone therapy only. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard ratios and Kaplan-Meier plots were used for the survival analysis, and a k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithm for estimating overall survival. RESULTS: An expression signature of VGLL3, IGFBP3 and F3 was shown sufficient to categorize the patients into high-, intermediate- and low-risk subtypes. The median overall survival times of the subtypes were 3.23, 4.00 and 9.85 years, respectively. The difference corresponded to hazard ratios of 5.86 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.91-11.78, P<0.001) for the high-risk subtype and 3.45 (95% CI: 1.79-6.66, P<0.001) for the intermediate-risk compared with the low-risk subtype. The kNN models that included the gene expression signature outperformed the one designed on clinical parameters alone. CONCLUSIONS: The expression signature can potentially be used to estimate overall survival time. When validated in future studies, it could be integrated in the routine clinical diagnostic and prognostic procedure of PCa for an optimal treatment decision based on the estimated survival benefit