Salvage chemotherapy with high-dose leucovorin (LV) and 48-hour continuous infusion (CI) of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in combination with conventional doses of cyclophosphamide (CPM) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) pretreated with anthracycline and taxanes

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the activity and tolerance of high-dose leucovorin (LV) and infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in combination with conventional doses of cyclophosphamide (CPM) as salvage chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes. 41 patients (median age 59 years) with MBC refractory or resistant to anthracyclines and taxanes were enrolled. The patients' performance status (WHO) was 0 in 10 patients (24%), 1 in 22 (54%), and 2 in 9 (22%). 30 (73%) patients had received 2 or more prior chemotherapy regimens. Cyclophosphamide (600 mg m−2) was given i.v. bolus on day 1 and LV (500 mg m−2 d−1) as a 2-h infusion followed by 5-FU (1.5 g m−2 d−1) over a 22 h c.i. for 2 consecutive days. Cyclophosphamide was administered every 28 days while 5-FU/LV every 14 days. In an intention-to-treat analysis, complete response (CR) was achieved in 2 (4.9%) patients and partial response (PR) in 9 (22%) (overall response rate 26.9%; 95% CI: 13.27–40.39%). Stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) were observed in 9 (22%) and 21 (51%) patients, respectively. The overall response rate was 6% and 40% in patients with primary and secondary resistance to anthracyclines/taxanes, respectively (P = 0.047). The median duration of response and the median time to disease progression was 8 and 9.5 months, respectively. The median overall survival was 13 months and the probability for 1-year survival 51%. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 9 (22%) patients and 4 (9%) patients developed grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia. Non-haematological toxicity was mild. There were no cases of febrile neutropenia, toxic deaths or treatment-related hospital admissions due to toxicity. The combination of high-dose 5-FU/LV with conventional doses of cyclophosphamide is a well tolerated and effective salvage regimen in patients with MBC heavily pretreated with both anthracyclines and taxanes. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.comhttp://www.bjcancer.co

Generation of Functional CLL-Specific Cord Blood CTL Using CD40-Ligated CLL APC

PMCID: PMC3526610This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Recent translational research: circulating tumor cells in breast cancer patients

In breast cancer patients, hematogenous tumor cell dissemination can be detected, even at the single cell level, by applying immunocytochemical and molecular assays. Various methods for the detection of circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood have been described. Results from recently reported studies suggest that circulating tumor cell levels may serve as a prognostic marker and for the early assessment of therapeutic response in patients with metastatic breast cancer. However, in early-stage breast cancer, the impact of circulating tumor cells is less well established than the presence of disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow; several clinical studies have demonstrated that cells of the latter type are an independent prognostic factor at primary diagnosis. In this article we briefly summarize recent studies examining the presence of circulating tumor cells in the blood and discuss further clinical applications

‘Classical' but not ‘other' mutations of EGFR kinase domain are associated with clinical outcome in gefitinib-treated patients with non-small cell lung cancer

‘Classical' mutations in the EGFR tyrosine kinase domain (exons 18, 19 and 21) have been associated with sensitivity to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with NSCLC. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether other than the classical G719X, DEL19 and L858R mutations of EGFR confer sensitivity to TKIs. Genomic DNA was extracted from microdissected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissue from 86 patients treated with gefitinib. Exons 18, 19 and 21 were amplified and subjected to direct sequencing. Eleven (13%) patients harboured the classical exon's 18, 19 and 21 mutations, while 14 (16%) had ‘other' variants. There was a significantly higher percentage of ‘never-smoker' patients with ‘classical' EGFR mutations (P=0.002). Among patients with ‘classical' mutations 3 patients achieved PR and 7 SD, while in the ‘other' mutations group 10 patients had SD as best response. In the wild-type group, there were 3 patients with PR and 25 with SD. Median TTP was 16, 64 (P=0.002) and 21 weeks and median survival was 36, 78 and 67 weeks for patients with wild-type, ‘classical' and ‘other' EGFR mutations, respectively. The clinical relevance of ‘other' EGFR mutation variants remains uncertain and requires further assessment in a prospective study

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually force to look for alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the imperatives of the nowadays society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and are an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels