Tolerability of intensified intravenous interferon alfa-2b versus the ECOG 1684 schedule as adjuvant therapy for stage III melanoma: a randomized phase III Italian Melanoma Inter-group trial (IMI – Mel.A.) [ISRCTN75125874]

BACKGROUND: High-dose interferon alfa-2b (IFNalfa-2b), according to the ECOG 1684 schedule, is the only approved adjuvant treatment for stage III melanoma patients by the FDA and EMEA. However, the risk/benefit profile has been questioned limiting its world-wide use. In the late nineties, the Italian Melanoma Inter-group started a spontaneous randomized clinical trial (RCT) to verify if a more intense, but shorter than the ECOG 1684 regimen, could improve survival without increasing the toxicity profile. The safety analysis in the first 169 patients who completed the treatment is here described. METHODS: Stage III melanoma patients were randomized to receive IFNalfa-2b 20 MU/m(2)/d intravenously (IV) 5 days/week × 4 weeks, repeated for three times on weeks 9 to 12, 17 to 20, 25 to 28 (Dose-Dense/Dose-Intense, DD/DI, arm), or IFNalfa-2b 20 MU/m(2)/d IV 5 days/week × 4 weeks followed by 10 MU/m(2 )subcutaneously (SC) three times per week × 48 weeks (High Dose Interferon, HDI, arm). Toxicity was recorded and graded, according to the WHO criteria, as the worst grade that occurred during each cycle. RESULTS: The most common toxicities in both arms were flu-like and gastrointestinal symptoms, leukopenia, liver and neuro-psichiatric morbidities; with regard to severe toxicity, only leukopenia was statistically more frequent in DD/DI arm than in HDI arm (24% vs 9%) (p = 0.0074), yet, this did not cause an increase in the infection risk. Discontinuation of treatment, due to toxicity, was observed in 13 and 17% of the patients in the DD/DI and HDI arm, respectively. The median actual dose intensity delivered in the DD/DI arm (36.4 MU/m(2)/week) was statistically higher than that delivered in the HDI arm (30.7 MU/m(2)/week) (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Four cycles of intravenous high-dose IFNalfa-2b can be safely delivered with an increase in the median dose intensity. Efficacy results from this trial are eagerly awaited

Epigenetics of human cutaneous melanoma: setting the stage for new therapeutic strategies

Cutaneous melanoma is a very aggressive neoplasia of melanocytic origin with constantly growing incidence and mortality rates world-wide. Epigenetic modifications (i.e., alterations of genomic DNA methylation patterns, of post-translational modifications of histones, and of microRNA profiles) have been recently identified as playing an important role in melanoma development and progression by affecting key cellular pathways such as cell cycle regulation, cell signalling, differentiation, DNA repair, apoptosis, invasion and immune recognition. In this scenario, pharmacologic inhibition of DNA methyltransferases and/or of histone deacetylases were demonstrated to efficiently restore the expression of aberrantly-silenced genes, thus re-establishing pathway functions. In light of the pleiotropic activities of epigenetic drugs, their use alone or in combination therapies is being strongly suggested, and a particular clinical benefit might be expected from their synergistic activities with chemo-, radio-, and immuno-therapeutic approaches in melanoma patients. On this path, an important improvement would possibly derive from the development of new generation epigenetic drugs characterized by much reduced systemic toxicities, higher bioavailability, and more specific epigenetic effects

Effect of suramin on human prostate cancer cells in vitro

Suramin, a polyanionic compound with known antiparasitic activity, has been shown to be adrenocorticolytic in primates and to have clinical efficacy in the treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer refractory to conventional hormonal manipulation. To better characterize the activity of suramin on prostate cancer biology, we studied the effect of the drug on plasma adrenal androgens of patients and on the human prostate adenocarcinoma cell lines PC-3, DU 145 and LNCaP-FGC. Five cancer patients treated with suramin had an approximate 40% decline in circulating androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels. The drug inhibited the colony formation in two of the three cell lines at concentrations clinically achievable in humans without excessive drug-related toxicity. The presence of suramin 300 micrograms./ml. partially inhibited the growth stimulatory effect of testosterone and basic fibroblast growth factor, but not that of epidermal growth factor. The cellular concentration of suramin following exposure to a single dose increases linearly over time in each of the cell lines with LNCaP-FGC accumulating the highest levels of the drug; cellular levels of suramin, not androgen or growth factor sensitivity, correlated with the sensitivity to the drug. The concentrations of prostatic acid phosphatase and prostatic specific antigen released by LNCaP-FGC cells in cell culture medium declined in the presence of increasing levels of suramin in a manner which exceeded the decrease in cell number. We conclude that suramin, aside from decreasing circulating androgens through its adrenocorticolytic effect, is also capable exerting a direct inhibitory effect on cell proliferation of prostate cancer cells, and interfere at a cellular level with the growth stimulatory effects of exogenous testosterone and basic fibroblast growth factor

Cerebral blood flow and cognitive functioning in patients with disorders along the heart–brain axis: Cerebral blood flow and the heart–brain axis

Introduction: We examined the role of hemodynamic dysfunction in cognition by relating cerebral blood flow (CBF), measured with arterial spin labeling (ASL), to cognitive functioning, in patients with heart failure (HF), carotid occlusive disease (COD), and patients with cognitive complaints and vascular brain injury on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; ie, possible vascular cognitive impairment [VCI]). Methods: We included 439 participants (124 HF; 75 COD; 127 possible VCI; 113 reference participants) from the Dutch multi‐center Heart–Brain Study. We used pseudo‐continuous ASL to estimate whole‐brain and regional partial volume‐corrected CBF. Neuropsychological tests covered global cognition and four cognitive domains. Results: CBF values were lowest in COD, followed by VCI and HF, compared to reference participants. This did not explain cognitive impairment, as we did not find an association between CBF and cognitive functioning. Discussion: We found that reduced CBF is not the major explanatory factor underlying cognitive impairment in patients with hemodynamic dysfunction along the heart–brain axis

Correcting the scientific record on abortion and mental health outcomes

Using the example of unreliable studies on mental health sequelae of induced abortion, Julia H. Littell and colleagues call for better adherence to ethical standards for correction or retraction of unreliable publications in order to maintain public trust in science and avoid potentially deleterious effects of incorrect information on public policy, clinical practice, and public health