NeoFLOT: Multicenter phase II study of perioperative chemotherapy in resectable adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction or gastric adenocarcinoma-Very good response predominantly in patients with intestinal type tumors.

Perioperative treatment is a standard of care in locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer (GEC) (gastric adenocarcinoma and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma). While preoperative treatment can be applied to the majority of patients, postoperative chemotherapy can be given only to a fraction. The NeoFLOT-study therefore investigates the application of prolonged neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).

Effect of KRAS exon 2 mutations on antitumor activity of afatinib and gefitinib.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of different KRAS mutations on the inhibitory potential of afatinib and gefitinib in SW48 colorectal cancer cells. The influence of afatinib/gefitinib on cell viability and cell cycle was evaluated in isogenic SW48 KRAS wild-type/mutant cells. Protein levels of phosphorylated/total EGFR, HER-2, HER-3, ERK, and AKT were compared between treated/untreated samples using western blotting.

Assessing novel prognostic serum biomarkers in advanced pancreatic cancer: the role of CYFRA 21-1, serum amyloid A, haptoglobin, and 25-OH vitamin D3.

The present prospective single-center study investigated the prognostic role of novel serum biomarkers in advanced pancreatic cancer (PC). Patients (pts) with locally advanced or metastatic PC treated with first-line palliative chemotherapy were included. Among others, the serum markers CYFRA 21-1, haptoglobin, serum-amyloid A (SAA), and 25-OH vitamin D3 were determined at baseline and categorized by pre-defined cut-offs [median values (MV), upper limits of normal (ULN), lower limits of normal (LLN), or the natural logarithm (ln)] and correlated with overall survival (OS).

Trip to immunity: resistant cytomegalovirus infection in a lung transplant recipient.

We report the case of a young female lung transplant recipient with difficult-to-treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. While treatment with intravenous (IV) ganciclovir failed due to antiviral drug resistance, a trial with foscarnet resulted in severe side effects. In addition, the patient received IV CMV-specific immune globulins as adjunctive therapy and leflunomide as experimental therapy.