“New” metastases are associated with a poorer prognosis than growth of pre-existing metastases in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with chemotherapy

Introduction: Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) endpoints often only weakly correlate. This analysis investigates how different progression events impact on OS, using data from two phase 3 studies with eribulin in women with advanced/metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Methods: In Study 301, 1102 women with ≤2 prior chemotherapies for advanced/MBC were randomized to eribulin mesylate (1.4 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 every 21 days) or capecitabine (1.25 g/m2 twice daily on days 1-14 every 21 days). Study 305/EMBRACE enrolled 762 patients following two to five prior chemotherapies for advanced/MBC, randomized to eribulin (as above) or treatment of physician's choice. We analyzed OS and PFS post hoc for patients whose disease progressed due to development of "new" metastases, growth of pre-existing lesions, and patients with no reported disease progression. Results: In both clinical studies, development of new metastases was associated with an increased risk of death (p < 0.0001). The time to development of new metastasis or death was significantly longer with eribulin than the comparator in Study 305 (p = 0.0017), but not in Study 301 (p = 0.46). Significantly longer OS was observed in the eribulin compared with the comparator arm for the new metastases subgroup in Study 301 (p = 0.008), but not in Study 305 (p = 0.16), compared with other progression subgroups. Conclusions: Patients with MBC progressing with new metastases have a worse prognosis than those whose disease progresses due to growth of existing lesions or patients with no reported disease progression. These findings have potentially important implications for the interpretation of clinical study data and clinical practice.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Prospective randomized trial of docetaxel versus doxorubicin in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Purpose: This phase III study compared docetaxel and doxorubicin in patients with metastatic breast cancer who had received previous alkylating agent-containing chemotherapy

Heritability of Fecundity and Post-partum Sterility: An Isolate-based Study

Taking account of the demographic and socioeconomic evolution of the population (Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec), mother-daughter correlations and sister-sister correlations were computed on waiting times to first birth and first birth intervals. The results suggest that heritability of the correspond­ing fertility factors, namely fecundity and post-partum sterility, were higher than previously reported heritability values of fertility. Furthermore, the experimental design underlines the view\u27 that migrant people might be genetically different from sedentary people as far as fecundity is concerned

Le rapport aux traitements médicamenteux chez des personnes atteintes d’un cancer incurable

À notre époque, l’expérience pharmacologique de la maladie cancéreuse est devenue d’une grande complexité. Cette étude poursuit comme objectif de mieux connaître et comprendre le rapport que des personnes affligées d’un cancer incurable entretiennent à l’égard des traitements médicamenteux. Un devis qualitatif faisant appel à une analyse de contenu par théorisation a été retenu. L’analyse de l’ensemble des récits révèle que le rapport développé par les sujets rencontrés à l’égard des traitements médicamenteux s’inscrit dans une logique de combat. Tout au long de la maladie, les sujets adoptent deux postures différentes à l’égard des médicaments. En guise de conclusion, des questions en regard de la structure des services offerts et en regard de l’intervention sont soulevées.This paper pursues an objective to better know and understand the relationship that exists between individuals afflicted with an incurable cancer and the medications offered as treatment. A qualitative research guideline based on the relevant literature has been selected. An analysis of an ensemble of personal narratives suggests that the relationship developed by the patients interviewed with the medication treatments is marked by a discourse of battle. Throughout the illness, patients adopt two different positions with respect to medications. To conclude, questions are raised with respect to the structure of the intervention services offered