Safety and Efficacy of Bevacizumab Plus Standard-of-Care Treatment Beyond Disease Progression in Patients With Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: The AvaALL Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Bevacizumab treatment beyond progression has been investigated in breast and metastatic colorectal cancers. Avastin in All Lines Lung (AvaALL) is the first randomized phase 3 study of bevacizumab across multiple lines of treatment beyond progression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of continuous bevacizumab treatment beyond first progression in NSCLC.

Prevalence and clinical association of MET gene overexpression and amplification in patients with NSCLC: Results from the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) Lungscape project.

Introduction: In a well-defined NSCLC cohort of the ETOP Lungscape program, we explored the epidemiology of IHC MET overexpression and amplification, their inter-correlation, and their association to outcome.

Methods: Resected NSCLC were assessed for MET gene copy number (GCN) and expression using silver in-situ hybridization (SISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on TMAs in a multicenter setting. MET amplification was defined as MET/centromere ratio≥2 (with average MET GCN≥4), high MET GCN as CGN≥5 and MET IHC+ as ≥2+ intensity in ≥50% of tumor cells.

Validation of an electronic program for pathologist training in the interpretation of a complex companion diagnostic immunohistochemical assay.

Companion diagnostics assay interpretation can select patients with the greatest targeted therapy benefits. We present the results from a prospective study demonstrating that pathologists can effectively learn immunohistochemical assay-interpretation skills from digital image-based electronic training (e-training). In this study, e-training was used to train board-certified pathologists to evaluate non-small cell lung carcinoma for eligibility for treatment with onartuzumab, a MET-inhibiting agent.

Results from a pilot Phase I trial of gefitinib combined with docetaxel and estramustine in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Background: Gefitinib, which is an orally active epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has demonstrated activity against hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) in preclinical studies. In this pilot Phase I trial, the authors evaluated the tolerability, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of gefitinib combined with estramustine and docetaxel in patients with HRPC.

Methods: Patients received gefitinib (at a dose of 250 mg/day or 500 mg/day) on each day of a 21-day treatment cycle.