The distinctive nature of adenocarcinoma of the lung

Giandomenico RovielloDepartment of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, ItalyAbstract: In recent years, many personalized treatments have been developed for NSCLC (non-small-cell lung cancer) patients. Among these, gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib are selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors for patients with EGFR gene mutations, while crizotinib and ceritinib are two new tyrosine kinase inhibitors directed against the echinoderm microtubule-like protein 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase translocation. The possibility of these new molecules being used to treat patients without adenocarcinoma histology is notably small. For example, EGFR mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase fusion gene rearrangement are rare in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (generally <1%). Additionally, the benefit of targeted treatment approaches in patients with small-cell lung cancer histology is limited. All of these findings highlight the distinctive nature of adenocarcinoma of the lung among all lung cancer subtypes. Unfortunately, to date, less than 15% of patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung are ideal candidates for these targeted therapies.Keywords: lung cancer, adenocarcinoma, EGFR, AL

Is there still a place for docetaxel rechallenge in prostate cancer?

Three-weekly docetaxel plus prednisone is the standard first-line cytotoxic treatment for patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Today, several new treatment options are available for patients with tumor progression after first-line docetaxel: Abiraterone, enzalutamide, cabazitaxel, sipuleucel-T immunotherapy, and the radionuclide radium-223. However, despite the evolving scenario in CRPC treatment, the optimal sequencing of the innovative therapies remains unclear. The reintroduction of docetaxel at the occurrence of disease progression after a drug holiday (docetaxel rechallenge) was often proposed, and this chemotherapeutic agent showed to maintain antitumor activity in mCRPC patients. Docetaxel rechallenge may still constitute a valid treatment option mainly for patients with favorable response to first-line docetaxel, at least > 3 mo progression-free interval, age less than 75 years, good performance status, and acceptable docetaxel toxicity. The risk of cumulative toxicity must be evaluated, since sensory neuropathy, nail disorders and fatigue might occur on docetaxel rechallenge

Photopolymer-based volume holographic optical elements: design and possible applications

In this paper, Volume Holographic Optical Elements (V-HOEs), such as holographic gratings and spherical lenses, are designed and fabricated by using a prototype of photopolymer. The recording process of V-HOEs and their appropriate characterization are described. Moreover, V-HOEs possible applications as solar concentrator are investigated and results are discussed. Finally, a system that allows passive solar tracking is proposed and preliminary results are reported

Poor outcome for patients with gastric cancer and lung metastases treated with ramucirumab and paclitaxel

The aim of this report is to investigate the activity of ramucirumab in combination with paclitaxel in patients with metastatic gastric cancer (GC) and lung metastases. We retrospectively reviewed clinical data from patients with GC treated in second line with ramucirumab and paclitaxel according to the presence or not of lung metastases. Thirty-one patients were eligible. Five (16.1%) patients had lung metastases. The median progression-free survival was 156 days in patients without lung metastases compared with 54 days in patients with lung metastases. The median survival also showed a trend in favour of patients without lung metastases. Despite the small number of patients and the retrospective nature of the data, our analysis showed relatively poor efficacy of ramucirumab plus paclitaxel as a second-line treatment in patients with lung metastases from GC. Further studies are required to evaluate novel treatments in this subset of patients