Phase II study of vinorelbine/cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck progressing after at least two chemotherapy regimens.

The aim of the present study was to identify a potentially effective new treatment regimen for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in disease progression after at least two previous chemotherapy regimens. The "novel" regimen was Cetuximab administered weekly plus Vinorelbine on days 1, 8, 15 every 28days. The regimen was administered to patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck previously treated with surgery, radiotherapy or both and progressing after at least two chemotherapy regimens.

Evaluation of the specificity of the leukocyte migration inhibition test against histologically homologous and heterologous neoplastic antigens in cancer patients.

The aim of the present study was to verify whether the CMI response of the host's lymphocytes is directed towards tumor-associated antigens (TAA) specific for each histological type of tumor. The leucocyte migration inhibition (LMI) test was selected for this purpose, utilizing the cancer patients' leucocytes and, as neoplastic antigens, formalin-fixed cells of surgically removed cancer tissue. Two hundred and eighteen patients were studied, 110 of whom were affected by breast cancer, 48 by digestive tract and 60 by laryngeal cancer.