Recurrence patterns and impact of brain metastases in synchronous single organ oligometastatic lung cancer following local ablative treatment - A multicenter analysis.

Introduction: Local ablative therapy (LAT) improves survival in oligometastatic lung cancer (OMD), but there is limited information on recurrence patterns, re-treatments and in particular the role of brain metastases during the course of disease. We therefore conducted a retrospective multicenter analysis to evaluate course of disease, sequence of therapies and predictors for long-term disease-control in the brain and survival endpoints.

Patients And Methods: Clinical data of patients with synchronous, single organ OMD with ≤4 metastases were collected from 5 certified German lung cancer centers.

Diagnosis, Therapy and Follow-up of Cervical Cancer. Guideline of the DGGG, DKG and DKH (S3-Level, AWMF Registry No. 032/033OL, May 2021) - Part 2 with Recommendations on Psycho-oncology, Rehabilitation, Follow-up, Recurrence, Palliative Therapy and Healthcare Facilities.

This is an update of the interdisciplinary S3-guideline on the Diagnosis, Therapy and Follow-up of Cervical Cancer (AWMF Registry No. 032/033OL), published in March 2021. The work on the updated guideline was funded by German Cancer Aid as part of the German Guideline Program in Oncology.

Diagnosis, Therapy and Follow-up of Cervical Cancer. Guideline of the DGGG, DKG and DKH (S3-Level, AWMF Registry No. 032/033OL, May 2021) - Part 1 with Recommendations on Epidemiology, Screening, Diagnostics and Therapy.

This update of the interdisciplinary S3 guideline on the Diagnosis, Therapy and Follow-up of Cervical Cancer (AWMF Registry No. 032/033OL) was published in March 2021. This updated guideline was funded by German Cancer Aid as part of the German Guideline Program in Oncology.

CabaGast: multicentre, Phase II study with cabazitaxel in previously treated patients with advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and stomach.

Introduction: This is a single-arm study (NCT01956149) to determine the prolonged (≥ 4 months) disease control rate with cabazitaxel administered in second-(or later) setting for patients with advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) and stomach.

Methods: 65 patients with advanced EGJ and stomach cancer were treated with 20 mg/m cabazitaxel every 3 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. The main objective of the study is a prolonged disease control rate (pDCR: CR, PR or SD lasting at least 4 months).

A Patient with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Nonspecific Interstitial Pneumonia during Ibrutinib Therapy.

We present a 74-year-old male with nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) during treatment with ibrutinib for mantle cell lymphoma. Previously, the patient had received six cycles of bendamustine and rituximab and six cycles of R-CHOP, followed by rituximab maintenance therapy. Respiratory tract complications of ibrutinib other than infectious pneumonia have not been mentioned in larger trials, but individual case reports hinted to a possible association with the development of pneumonitis.

Dermatux: phase IV trial of Cetuximab plus FOLFIRI in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer receiving a pre-defined skin care.

Purpose: Cetuximab-induced skin rash Gd3+ occurs in ≥16% patients (pts) (Heinemann et al., Lancet Oncol 15(10):1065-1075, 2014; Van Cutsem et al. J Clin Oncol 27(19):3117-25; 2009b).

Validation of a Prognostic Staging for Metastatic Uveal Melanoma: A Collaborative Study of the European Ophthalmic Oncology Group.

Purpose: To validate a staging system for metastatic uveal melanoma that will facilitate planning, reporting, and interpreting the results of clinical trials.

Design: Reliability and validity study.

Methods: The performance index, the largest diameter of the largest metastasis and alkaline phosphatase level at the time of diagnosis of metastases, and overall survival of 249 patients from 7 ocular oncology centers who died of dissemination were analyzed.

How much platinum passes the placental barrier? Analysis of platinum applications in 21 patients with cervical cancer during pregnancy.

Objective: Cervical cancer is the most common solid cancer diagnosed in pregnancy. Platinum is an active drug in the treatment of patients with cervical cancer. In the second and third trimesters, platinum is used to prevent cancer progression until fetal maturity is reached.

First-line treatment of EGFR-mutated nonsmall cell lung cancer: critical review on study methodology.

Recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led to the development of targeted treatments, including the reversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib, and the irreversible ErbB family blocker afatinib. Several important activating EGFR mutations have now been identified, which correlate strongly with response to treatment with these agents. Multiple randomised controlled trials have confirmed the association between the presence of activating EGFR mutations and objective response to gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib, thus demonstrating their superiority over platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation-positive tumours, and resulting in approval of these agents for use in this setting.

Prospective, multicenter, randomized, independent-group, open-label phase II study to investigate the efficacy and safety of three regimens with two doses of sagopilone as second-line therapy in patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Sagopilone is the first fully synthetic epothilone in clinical development and has proven preclinical activity in tumor models. This multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase II study examined the efficacy and safety of three regimens with two doses and two infusion durations of second-line sagopilone in pretreated patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small-cell lung cancer.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included: at least one measurable lesion by modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors; World Health Organization performance status of 0 or 1; and failure of previous platinum-based chemotherapy.

Negative enrichment by immunomagnetic nanobeads for unbiased characterization of circulating tumor cells from peripheral blood of cancer patients.

Background: A limitation of positive selection strategies to enrich for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is that there might be CTCs with insufficient expression of the surface target marker which may be missed by the procedure. We optimized a method for enrichment, subsequent detection and characterization of CTCs based on depletion of the leukocyte fraction.

Methods: The 2-step protocol was developed for processing 20 mL blood and based on red blood cell lysis followed by leukocyte depletion.

Second-line therapy for small-cell lung cancer.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) recurs in the majority of patients, even though most patients respond to first-line therapy. Therefore second-line therapy is considered in almost all patients with SCLC in the course of disease. Efficacy of second-line chemotherapy is much lower than that of first-line treatment, but it can provide significant palliation and prolongation of survival for many patients.

Addressing concerns about cisplatin application during pregnancy.

Introduction: Cervical cancer in second trimester of pregnancy is an oncologic challenge. Cisplatin is recommended to prevent cancer progression. This is a series correlating in vivo cisplatin concentration in the fetomaternal compartment and in breast milk with child development.

Randomized phase II study of paclitaxel and carboplatin or vinorelbine in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: A randomized phase II trial was conducted to determine if two non-platinum protocols are able to yield a similar efficacy and toxicity profile as compared to two platinum-based doublets in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: A total of 61 patients were randomly assigned to a reference regimen of carboplatin and paclitaxel (repeated every 3 weeks) or to one of three experimental regimens: paclitaxel plus vinorelbine (repeated every 3 or 4 weeks) and carboplatin plus paclitaxel (repeated every 4 weeks).

Results: The objective remission rate for all the patients was 34.

Immunomodulatory effects of sorafenib on peripheral immune effector cells in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as sorafenib have substantially improved the prognosis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients, but long-term remissions have only been reached with immunotherapy. Sequencing or combining TKI treatment with immunotherapy may represent an attractive therapeutic concept. However, in vitro data have shown that TKI may not only affect tumour cells, but also inhibit signalling in immune effector cells.

Systemic immune tuning in renal cell carcinoma: favorable prognostic impact of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) can inhibit protective immunity by induction of immunosuppressive cells that produce inhibitory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. If this immunosuppression influences response to kinase inhibitors such as sorafenib is not known. Therefore, we asked for the prognostic influence of cells with immunosuppressive properties in peripheral blood (pB) in a cohort of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients uniformly receiving sorafenib treatment.

Cisplatin application in pregnancy: first in vivo analysis of 7 patients.

Cervical cancer in pregnancy is an oncologic challenge. Empirical cisplatin is recommended to prevent cancer progression until fetal maturity. Seven patients with cervical cancer in the second trimester decided to delay delivery together with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Eradication of EGFR-positive circulating tumor cells and objective tumor response with lapatinib and capecitabine.

For breast cancer patients, treatment decisions based on the molecular profile of the primary tumor have been used for many years. In Her2-overexpressing tumors, trastuzumab is a key component of therapy. However, despite persistent expression of Her2, most tumors eventually become resistant to trastuzumab.

The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab for the treatment of malignant ascites due to epithelial cancer: Results of a prospective randomized phase II/III trial.

Malignant ascites is a common manifestation of advanced cancers, and treatment options are limited. The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab (anti-epithelial cell-adhesion molecule x anti-CD3) represents a targeted immunotherapy for the intraperitoneal (i.p.

Association of epidermal growth factor receptor polymorphism, skin toxicity, and outcome in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck receiving cetuximab-docetaxel treatment.

Purpose: Cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has shown clinical efficacy in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with prolonged progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In this study, we analyzed whether cetuximab-induced skin rash was correlated with distinct polymorphisms within the EGFR gene known to modulate EGFR expression, ligand binding, or signaling activity.

Experimental Design: Fifty-one patients enrolled in a single-arm phase II multicenter study for second-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with cetuximab/docetaxel were genotyped for two genetic variations in the EGFR gene, a point substitution G-->A in exon 13 resulting in an amino acid substitution in position 521 (EGFR-R521K) and a CA repeat (CA-SSR) polymorphism in intron 1.

Controversies in the treatment of advanced stages of small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer is a highly proliferative tumor with the potential of early hematogeneous spread. At the time of first diagnosis more than 80% of patients present with distant metastases. Although response rate to chemotherapy is high with > 50% confirmed objective responses, the majority of patients relapse within several months after first-line chemotherapy.

Remission of extensive intrahepatic metastasis by C-arm computed tomography guided chemoembolization in uveal melanoma.

As soon as uveal melanoma has metastasized to the liver, response rates to systemic chemotherapy are low. It can be improved by development of special locoregional procedures. A 24-year-old woman suffered from inoperable hepatic metastases which grew to life-endangering size despite both systemic chemotherapy with gemcitabine/treosulfan and conventional intrahepatic chemoembolization with fotemustine and starch particles.