Front-line Bevacizumab in combination with Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin and 5-Fluorouracil (FOLFOX) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: a multicenter phase II study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>To evaluate the efficacy and the toxicity of front line FOLFOX4 combined with bevacizumab in patients with metastatsic CRC (mCRC).</p> <p>Patients and Methods</p> <p>Chemotherapy-naïve patients with mCRC, received bevacizumab (5 mg/kg every 2 weeks d₁), oxaliplatin (85 mg/m²on d₁), leucovorin (200 mg/m²) on days 1 and 2 and 5-Fluorouracil (400 mg/m²as i.v. bolus and 600 mg/m²as 22 h i.v. continuous infusion on days 1 and 2) every 2 weeks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty three patients (46 with a PS 0–1) were enrolled. Complete and partial response was achieved in eight (15.1%) and 28 (52.8%) patients, respectively (ORR: 67.9%; 95% C.I.: 53.8%–92%); 11 (20.7%) patients had stable disease and six (11.3%) progressive disease. With a median follow up period of 13.5 months, time to tumor progression was 11 months while the median survival has not yet been reached; the probability of 1-, 2- and 3- year survival was 79.8%, 63.8% and 58.3%, respectively; Two patients relapsed during the follow up period. Eight (15%) patients underwent metastasectomy with R0 resections. Grade 3–4 neutropenia occurred in 15.1% of patients and one (1.9%) of them presented febrile neutropenia. Non-hematologic toxicity included grade 3 diarrhea (7.6%) and grade 2 and 3 neurotoxicity in 16.9 and 15.1% of patients, respectively. One (1.9%) patient presented pulmonary embolism and one (1.9%) cardiac ischaemia. There was one (1.9%) sudden death after the first cycle.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The combination of FOLFOX4/bevacizumab appears to be highly effective, well tolerated and merits further evaluation in patients with mCRC.</p

Central nervous system relapse in patients with breast cancer is associated with advanced stages, with the presence of circulating occult tumor cells and with the HER2/neu status

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) involvement in patients with breast cancer treated with a taxane-based chemotherapy regimen and to determine predictive factors for CNS relapse. METHODS: The medical files of patients with early breast cancer (n = 253) or advanced stage breast cancer (n = 239) as well of those with other solid tumors (n = 336) treated with or without a taxane-based chemotherapy regimen during a 42-month period were reviewed. HER2/neu overexpression was identified by immunohistochemistry, whereas cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) mRNA-positive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood were identified by real-time PCR. RESULTS: The incidence of CNS relapse was similar in patients suffering from breast cancer or other solid tumors (10.4% and 11.4%, respectively; P = 0.517). The incidence of CNS relapse was significantly higher in breast cancer patients with advanced disease (P = 0.041), visceral disease and bone disease (P = 0.036), in those who were treated with a taxane-containing regimen (P = 0.024), in those with HER2/neu-overexpressing tumors (P = 0.022) and, finally, in those with detectable CK-19 mRNA-positive CTCs (P = 0.008). Multivariate analysis revealed that the stage of disease (odds ratio, 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.007–0.23; P = 0.0001), the HER2/neu status (odds ratio, 29.4; 95% confidence interval, 7.51–101.21; P = 0.0001) and the presence of CK-19 mRNA-positive CTCs (odds ratio, 8.31; 95% confidence interval, 3.97–12.84; P = 0.001) were independent predictive factors for CNS relapse. CONCLUSION: CNS relapses are common among breast cancer patients treated with a taxane-based chemotherapy regimen, patients with HER2/neu-positive tumor and patients with CK-19 mRNA-positive CTCs

Political travel across the ‘Iron Curtain’ and Communist youth identities in West Germany and Greece in the 1970s and 1980s

This article explores tours through the Iron Curtain arranged by West German and Greek pro-Soviet Communist youth groups, in an attempt to shed light on the transformation of European youth cultures beyond the ‘Americanisation’ story. It argues that the concept of the ‘black box’, employed by Rob Kroes to describe the influence of American cultural patterns on Western European youth, also applies to the reception of Eastern Bloc policies and norms by the Communists under study. Such selective reception was part of these groups’ efforts to devise a modernity alternative to the ‘capitalist’ one, an alternative modernity which tours across the Iron Curtain would help establish. Nevertheless, the organisers did not wish such travel to help eliminate American/Western influences on youth lifestyles entirely: the article analyses the excursions’ aims with regard to two core components of youth lifestyles in Western Europe since the 1960s, which have been affected by intra-Western flows, the spirit of ‘doing one’s own thing’ and transformations of sexual practices. The article also addresses the experience of the travellers in question, showing that they felt an unresolved tension: the tours neither served as a means of Sovietisation nor as an impulse to develop an openly anti-Soviet stance.PostprintPeer reviewe

Favorable Clinical Course of Patients Experiencing Bevacizumab-Induced Proteinuria

Nephrotic-range proteinuria, which denotes structural damage to the glomerular filtration barrier, occurs in 1–2% of bevacizumab-treated patients. The glomerular injury and subsequent proteinuria is probably due to a direct targeting of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We report a case series of six patients who developed a syndrome characterized by proteinuria and hypertension after starting therapy with bevacizumab and who experienced prolonged progression-free survival. Given that altered glomerular permeability appears to be a direct consequence of VEGF inhibition, we hypothesize that proteinuria may indeed correlate with drug efficacy. Optimizing safe and effective drug dosing is critical to achieve the best therapeutic impact due to limited treatment options for many life-threatening advanced cancers. Clinicians should be aware that the development of proteinuria might serve as a surrogate marker of bevacizumab antitumor efficacy and determine the appropriate criteria for withholding this effective anticancer therapy

A dose escalation study of biweekly oral vinorelbine and gemcitabine in patients with solid tumors.

To determine the maximum tolerated doses (MTDs) and the dose-limiting toxicities of a biweekly administration of oral vinorelbine and gemcitabine in patients with advanced solid tumors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Gefitinib in combination with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in patients with metastatic breast cancer pre-treated with taxane and anthracycline chemotherapy: A phase I/II trial

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe