The METACER national cohort study of brain metastases in gastrointestinal cancers prospectively establishes prognostic factors.

Purpose: Availability data are scarce and primarily retrospective in patients with brain metastasis (BM) from gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The objective of this cohort was to determine prognostic factors for survival outcomes in patients with BM from GI cancers.

Methods: METACER is a national multicentric prospective cohort study which included patients with BM diagnosis during a histologically proven digestive cancer follow-up between 2010 and 2014.

Comments and Controversies in Oncology: The Tribulations of Trials Developing ONC201.

Our international team highlights issues with efficacy reports in several studies on DMG with the new drug ONC201.

How to develop new systemic treatments in ultra-rare cancers with high unmet needs? The case of alveolar soft-part sarcoma.

Developing new drugs or generating evidence for existing drugs in new indications for ultra-rare cancers is complex and carries a high-risk of failure. This gets even harder in ultra-rare tumours, which have an annual incidence of 1 per 1,000,000 population or less. Here, we illustrate the problem of adequate evidence generation in ultra-rare tumours, using Alveolar Soft-Part Sarcomas (ASPS) - an ultra-rare sarcoma newly diagnosed in approximately 60 persons a year in the European Union - as an exemplar case showing challenges in development despite being potentially relevant for classes of agents.

Practice patterns, time trends and quality of care of uterine cancer in Belgium: An analysis of the EFFECT database.

Objectives: To investigate the practice patterns and quality of care for uterine cancer on a national level in Belgium, including trends in practice over the period 2012-2016.

Methods: Quality indicators were measured using the EFFectiveness of Endometrial Cancer Treatment (EFFECT) database. Multivariable logistic mixed regression was used to test for associations between the quality indicators and year of diagnosis, adjusted for potential confounders and intra-cluster correlations.

Phase I Study of a Combination of Fluvastatin and Celecoxib in Children with Relapsing/Refractory Low-Grade or High-Grade Glioma (FLUVABREX).

Preclinical data support the activity of celecoxib and fluvastatin in high-grade (HGG) and low-grade gliomas (LGG). A phase I trial (NCT02115074) was designed to evaluate the safety of this combination in children with refractory/relapsed HGG and LGG using four dose levels of fluvastatin with a fixed daily dose of celecoxib. A Continual Reassessment Method was used for fluvastatin dose escalation.

Drug repurposing as a potential source of innovative therapies in cervical cancer.

Objective: Drug repurposing is an alternative development pathway that utilizes the properties of drugs approved for other diseases and builds on available safety and pharmacological data to develop the drug as a potential treatment for other diseases. A literature-based approach was performed to identify drug repurposing opportunities in cervical cancer to inform future research and trials.

Methods: We queried PubMed for each drug included in two databases (ReDO_DB and CDcervix_DB, which include 300+ non-cancer drugs and 200+ cancer drugs not used in cervical cancer, respectively) and manually assessed all abstracts for relevance and activity in cervix cancer, and type of evidence.

Diminishing clinical impact for post-approval cancer clinical trials: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Once a drug gets FDA approved, researchers often attempt to discover new applications in different indications. The clinical impact of such post-approval activities is uncertain. We aimed to compare the clinical impact of research efforts started after approval with those started before for cancer drugs.

Completeness and selection bias of a Belgian multidisciplinary, registration-based study on the EFFectiveness and quality of Endometrial Cancer Treatment (EFFECT).

Background: With the aim of obtaining more uniformity and quality in the treatment of corpus uteri cancer in Belgium, the EFFECT project has prospectively collected detailed information on the real-world clinical care offered to 4063 Belgian women with primary corpus uteri cancer. However, as data was collected on a voluntary basis, data may be incomplete and biased. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the completeness and potential selection bias of the EFFECT database.

A phase Ib/IIa trial of 9 repurposed drugs combined with temozolomide for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma: CUSP9v3.

Background: The dismal prognosis of glioblastoma (GBM) may be related to the ability of GBM cells to develop mechanisms of treatment resistance. We designed a protocol called Coordinated Undermining of Survival Paths combining 9 repurposed non-oncological drugs with metronomic temozolomide-version 3-(CUSP9v3) to address this issue. The aim of this phase Ib/IIa trial was to assess the safety of CUSP9v3.

Use of non-cancer drugs and survival among patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a nationwide registry-based study in Norway.

Background: The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is poor and new treatment strategies are urgently needed. To identify non-cancer drugs that could be re-purposed for cancer, we investigated the association between the use of selected drugs and cancer-specific mortality in a nationwide cohort of pancreatic cancer patients.

Material And Methods: The study is based on linkage between the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Prescription Database, comprising 2614 pancreatic cancer patients diagnosed between 2007 and 2014.

Repurposing Infectious Diseases Vaccines Against Cancer.

Vaccines used to prevent infections have long been known to stimulate immune responses to cancer as illustrated by the approval of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to treat bladder cancer since the 1970s. The recent approval of immunotherapies has rejuvenated this research area with reports of anti-tumor responses with existing infectious diseases vaccines used as such, either alone or in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Here, we have reviewed and summarized research activities using approved vaccines to treat cancer.

Trends in International Cancer Research Investment 2006-2018.

The International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP) is an active network of cancer research funding organizations, sharing information about funded research projects in a common database. Data are publicly available to enable the cancer research community to find potential collaborators and avoid duplication. This study presents an aggregated analysis of projects funded by 120 partner organizations and institutes in 2006-2018, to highlight trends in cancer research funding.

A Randomized Phase II Trial Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Pioglitazone, Clarithromycin and Metronomic Low-Dose Chemotherapy with Single-Agent Nivolumab Therapy in Patients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated in Second or Further Line (ModuLung).

Most non-small cell lung cancers occur in elderly and frequently comorbid patients. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of biomodulatory active therapy regimen, concertedly interfering with tumor-associated homeostatic pathways to achieve tumor control paralleled by modest toxicity profiles. The ModuLung trial is a national, multicentre, prospective, open-label, randomized phase II trial in patients with histologically confirmed stage IIIB/IV squamous ( = 11) and non-squamous non-small cell ( = 26) lung cancer who failed first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

An Open Access Database of Licensed Cancer Drugs.

A global, comprehensive and open access listing of approved anticancer drugs does not currently exist. Partial information is available from multiple sources, including regulatory authorities, national formularies and scientific agencies. Many such data sources include drugs used in oncology for supportive care, diagnostic or other non-antineoplastic uses.

Pancreatic resection with perioperative drug repurposing of propranolol and etodolac: trial protocol of the phase-II randomised placebo controlled PROSPER trial.

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death in developed countries. Despite advances in systemic chemotherapy, the mainstay of curative therapy for non-metastatic disease is surgical resection. However, the perioperative period is characterised by stress and inflammatory reactions that can contribute to metastatic spread and disease recurrence.

The nocebo effect and tobacco control-First, do no harm?

Since tobacco remains a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, emphasis needs to be given to preventive approaches to tobacco consumption. Environmental and policy strategies with fear appeals are important contributors to reductions in smoking prevalence. Fear appeals are persuasive messages-often using graphic and emotionally evocative imagery and language-that attempt to scare their audiences into tobacco cessation.