Devimistat (CPI-613) With Modified Fluorouarcil, Oxaliplatin, Irinotecan, and Leucovorin (FFX) Versus FFX for Patients With Metastatic Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas: The Phase III AVENGER 500 Study.

Purpose: Metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPC) remains a difficult-to-treat disease. Fluorouarcil, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and leucovorin (FFX) is a standard first-line therapy for mPC for patients with a favorable performance status and good organ function. In a phase I study, devimistat (CPI-613) in combination with modified FFX (mFFX) was deemed safe and exhibited promising efficacy in mPC.

Comparison of survival for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients treated with CPI-613 versus resected borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer patients.

Introduction: Treatment of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains suboptimal. Therapeutic agents with a novel mechanism of action are desperately needed; one such novel agent is CPI-613 targets. We here analyze the outcomes of 20 metastatic pancreatic cancer patients treated with CPI-613 and FOLFIRINOX in our institution and evaluate their outcomes to borderline-resectable patients treated with curative surgery.

Phase 2 study of combination SPI-1620 with docetaxel as second-line advanced biliary tract cancer treatment.

Background: This multicentre, open-label study evaluated the efficacy and safety of SPI-1620, an analogue of endothelin-1, administered in combination with docetaxel as second-line treatment for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (ABTC).

Methods: Eligible patients received continuous cycles of combination therapy with SPI-1620 (11 μg m) and docetaxel (75 mg m) intravenously every 3 weeks until disease progression (PD) or intolerable toxicity. Tumour response was evaluated using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging every 2 cycles (6 weeks).

A phase I clinical trial of navitoclax, a targeted high-affinity Bcl-2 family inhibitor, in combination with gemcitabine in patients with solid tumors.

Purpose: To investigate the safety, optimal dosing, pharmacokinetics and clinical activity of a regimen of navitoclax (ABT-263) combined with gemcitabine in patients with solid tumors.

Experimental Design: Patients with solid tumors for which gemcitabine was deemed an appropriate therapy were enrolled into one of two different dosing schedules (21-day dosing schedule: navitoclax administered orally on days 1-3 and 8-10,; and gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8; 28-day dosing schedule: navitoclax administrated orally on days 1-3, 8-10, and 15-17; and gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8 and 15). Navitoclax doses were escalated from 150 to 425 mg.

Preoperative docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastro-esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Perioperative chemotherapy plus surgery improves survival compared to surgery alone in GE junctional (GEJ) and gastric adenocarcinomas. The docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (DCF) combination is superior to CF in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. We retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of preoperative DCF chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastric and GEJ cancer.

Does delay of adjuvant chemotherapy impact survival in patients with resected stage II and III colon adenocarcinoma?

Background: It is unclear whether delays in commencing adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical resection of colon adenocarcinoma adversely impact survival.

Methods: Patients with stage II-III colon adenocarcinoma who received adjuvant chemotherapy at 2 centers were identified through the institutional tumor registry. Time to adjuvant chemotherapy, overall survival (OS), and relapse-free survival (RFS) were calculated from the day of surgery.

Management of small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive type of lung cancer characterized by rapid growth and early metastasis. It is chemosensitive and radiosensitive, yet decades of research investigating multimodality treatments have failed to control or cure this disease in most patients. First-line treatment of limited-stage disease consists of chemotherapy (often etoposide/cisplatin or etoposide/carboplatin) combined with thoracic radiation therapy (TRT), followed by prophylactic cranial irradiation to decrease brain metastases as a site of disease progression for those who experience complete remission or a very good partial response to multimodality treatment.

Docetaxel in the management of advanced pancreatic cancer.

The poor outcome of pancreatic cancer with conventional treatment options emphasizes the need for continued research. The benefits of gemcitabine in improving quality of life and survival have been established in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Randomized clinical trials studying the addition of a second drug to gemcitabine, either a classic cytotoxic (5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, irinotecan, pemetrexed, oxaliplatin, or exatecan) or targeted agents (ie, the farnesyl transferase inhibitor R115777 or the metalloproteinase inhibitor marimastat) have not resulted in improvement in survival compared with gemcitabine alone.

Topoisomerase I-based nonplatinum combinations in non-small-cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in males and females in the United States. Most patients have advanced disease at diagnosis. Chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for patients with good performance status.

Update on pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer remains the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in males and females in the beginning of this new millennium. The 5-year survival for all stages remains less than 5%. The frequent diagnosis at late stages of the disease limits the role of surgery as a curative modality in pancreatic cancer.

Irinotecan plus gemcitabine induces both radiographic and CA 19-9 tumor marker responses in patients with previously untreated advanced pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: This phase II, multicenter, open-label, single-arm study evaluated the efficacy and safety of irinotecan and gemcitabine as combination chemotherapy for previously untreated patients with unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients received repeated 21-day cycles at starting doses of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) over 30 minutes followed immediately by irinotecan 100 mg/m(2) over 90 minutes, both given intravenously on days 1 and 8. Patients were evaluated for objective tumor response, changes in the serum tumor marker CA 19-9, time to tumor progression (TTP), survival, and safety.

Therapy choices among older patients with lung carcinoma: an evaluation of two trials of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

Background: Despite a greater risk of malignancy and a higher cancer mortality rate for patients age > 65 years, bias in accruing older patients to clinical trials persists. The results from two National Cancer Institute-approved cooperative group trials (Cancer and Leukemia Group B trial 8931 [CALGB 8931] and CALGB 9130) were analyzed retrospectively to determine the participation, tolerance of treatment, and outcome of patients age > 70 years.

Methods: Five hundred fifteen patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsmall cell lung carcinoma participated in two separate, randomized, Phase III clinical trials conducted by CALGB.