Patterns of relapse and treatment outcome after active surveillance or adjuvant carboplatin for stage I seminoma: a retrospective study of the Spanish Germ Cell Cancer Group.

Purpose: Active surveillance (AS) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) with carboplatin are valid alternatives for managing stage I seminoma, and most relapses can be cured with cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, some reports suggest that AC may modify the classical pattern of recurrences.

Methods: We analyzed all relapses observed in a series of 879 patients with stage I seminoma included in 4 consecutive studies of the Spanish Germ Cell Cancer Group.

Managing cancer care through service delivery networks: The role of professional collaboration in two European cancer networks.

Background The study examines two meso-strategic cancer networks, exploring to what extent collaboration can strengthen or hamper network effectiveness. Unlike macro-strategic networks, meso-strategic networks have no hierarchical governance structures nor are they institutionalised within healthcare services' delivery systems. This study aims to analyse the models of professional cooperation and the tools developed for managing clinical practice within two meso-strategic, European cancer networks.

Financial consequences of a payment-by-results scheme in Catalonia: gefitinib in advanced EGFR-mutation positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: In 2011 the first payment-by-results (PbR) scheme in Catalonia was signed between the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Catalan Health Service, and AstraZeneca (AZ) for the introduction of gefitinib in the treatment of advanced EGFR-mutation positive non-small-cell lung cancer. The PbR scheme includes two evaluation points: at week 8, responses, stabilization and progression were evaluated, and at week 16 stabilization was confirmed. AZ was to reimburse the total treatment cost of patients that failed treatment, defined as progression at weeks 8 or 16.

Prognostic factors for relapse in stage I seminoma: a new nomogram derived from three consecutive, risk-adapted studies from the Spanish Germ Cell Cancer Group (SGCCG).

Background: We aimed to analyze prognostic factors for relapse in stage I seminoma managed by either active surveillance or adjuvant chemotherapy, and to describe the long-term patterns of recurrence in both groups.

Patients And Methods: From 1994 to 2008, 744 patients were included in three consecutive, prospective risk-adapted studies by the Spanish Germ Cell Cancer Group. Low-risk patients were managed by surveillance and high-risk patients were given two courses of adjuvant carboplatin.

Cabazitaxel for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: safety data from the Spanish expanded access program.

Background: Based on the TROPIC study results, cabazitaxel was approved for the management of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progressing on or after docetaxel.

Methods: This multi-centre program provided early access to cabazitaxel to patients with mCRPC before its commercialization. Safety data from 153 Spanish patients receiving cabazitaxel 25 mg/m(2) i.

The PDGFRβ-AKT pathway contributes to CDDP-acquired resistance in testicular germ cell tumors.

Purpose: We examined whether PI3K-AKT or extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways could play a role in the development of cisplatin (CDDP) resistance in testicular germ cell tumor (TGT) cells.

Experimental Design: We compared AKT and ERK activation levels in CDDP-sensitive testicular tumor cells and in their corresponding CDDP-resistant-derived cells. We also analyzed these pathways in orthotopic testicular tumors and human patient samples.

Effectivity of pazopanib treatment in orthotopic models of human testicular germ cell tumors.

Background: Cisplatin (CDDP) resistance in testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs) is still a clinical challenge, and one associated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this work was to test pazopanib, an anti-tumoral and anti-angiogenic multikinase inhibitor, and its combination with lapatinib (an anti-ErbB inhibitor) in mouse orthotopic models of human testicular GCTs.

Methods: We used two different models of human testicular GCTs orthotopically grown in nude mice; a CDDP-sensitive choriocarcinoma (TGT38) and a new orthotopic model generated from a metastatic GCT refractory to first-line CDDP chemotherapy (TGT44).

The impact of KRAS mutations on VEGF-A production and tumour vascular network.

Background: The malignant potential of tumour cells may be influenced by the molecular nature of KRAS mutations being codon 13 mutations less aggressive than codon 12 ones. Their metabolic profile is also different, with an increased anaerobic glycolytic metabolism in cells harbouring codon 12 KRAS mutations compared with cells containing codon 13 mutations. We hypothesized that this distinct metabolic behaviour could be associated with different HIF-1α expression and a distinct angiogenic profile.

ErbBs inhibition by lapatinib blocks tumor growth in an orthotopic model of human testicular germ cell tumor.

In this work, we have analyzed the expression of different members of the ErbB family in human samples of testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs). We observed expression of ErbB1 or ErbB2 in different tumor subtypes, but we also found high expression of ErbB3 in all GCTs tested. This pattern of expression was maintained when primary tumors were orthotopically implanted in nude mice.

A randomized, double-blind, dose-finding, multicenter, phase 2 study of radium chloride (Ra 223) in patients with bone metastases and castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases have an unmet clinical need for effective treatments that improve quality of life and survival with a favorable safety profile.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of three different doses of radium chloride (Ra 223) in patients with CRPC and bone metastases.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this phase 2 double-blind multicenter study, 122 patients were randomized to receive three injections of Ra 223 at 6-wk intervals, at doses of 25 kBq/kg (n=41), 50 kBq/kg (n=39), or 80 kBq/kg (n=42).

Clinicopathological risk factors of Stage II colon cancer: results of a prospective study.

Aim: Adjuvant 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy has demonstrated benefit in Stage III colon cancer but still remains controversial in Stage II. The aim of this study was to analyse the prognostic impact of clinicopathological factors that may help guide treatment decisions in Stage II colon cancer.

Method: Between 1996 and 2006 data from patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at Hospital Universitari Bellvitge and its referral comprehensive cancer centre Institut Català d'Oncologia/L'Hospitalet were prospectively included in a database.

Efficacy and safety of concurrent trastuzumab plus weekly paclitaxel-FEC as primary therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer in everyday clinical practice.

One of the most efficacious primary therapies in HER2-positive breast cancer was published by the M.D. Anderson group in 2005.

Risk-adapted treatment in clinical stage I testicular seminoma: the third Spanish Germ Cell Cancer Group study.

Purpose: To confirm the efficacy of a risk-adapted treatment approach for patients with clinical stage I seminoma. The aim was to reduce both the risk of relapse and the proportion of patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy while maintaining a high cure rate.

Patients And Methods: From 2004 to 2008, 227 patients were included after orchiectomy in a multicenter study.

SEOM clinical guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of testicular seminoma (2010).

Testicular cancer represents the most common malignancy in males aged 15-34 years. Nearly 40% of cases correspond to seminomas and three quarters of them are diagnosed with stage I disease. After orchiectomy, clinical staging should include serial tumour marker assays (alphafetoprotein must be negative), abdominal CT scan and chest X-ray films.

Advanced ovarian cancer: phase III randomized study of sequential cisplatin-topotecan and carboplatin-paclitaxel vs carboplatin-paclitaxel.

Background: Topotecan has single-agent activity in recurrent ovarian cancer. It was evaluated in a novel combination compared with standard frontline therapy.

Methods: Women aged 75 years or younger with newly diagnosed stage IIB or greater ovarian cancer, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of 1 or less, were stratified by type of primary surgery and residual disease, treatment center, and age; then randomly assigned to one of the two 21-day intravenous regimens.

Effectiveness, pharmacokinetics, and safety of a new sustained-release leuprolide acetate 3.75-mg depot formulation for testosterone suppression in patients with prostate cancer: a Phase III, open-label, international multicenter study.

Background: A microencapsulated, sustained-release formulation of leuprolide acetate 3.75 mg has been developed.

Objective: This study investigated the effectiveness, pharmacokinetics, and safety profile of a 1-month leuprolide acetate 3.

CA-125 response patterns in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer treated with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD).

Introduction: : In recurrent ovarian cancer, CA-125 could be the only objective response criteria. This study analyzes response patterns regarding CA-125 in responders versus nonresponders and determines whether a specific cutoff value for CA-125 could predict clinical response, compared with response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, in patients receiving pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD).

Methods: : Sixty-eight patients were identified, 78% were platinum resistant.

Sunitinib inhibits tumor growth and synergizes with cisplatin in orthotopic models of cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant human testicular germ cell tumors.

Purpose: Germ cell tumors (GCT) of the testis are highly curable, but those patients who are refractory to cisplatin (CDDP)-based combination chemotherapy have a poor prognosis. Therefore, identifying new alternatives for treatment remains a priority. Several studies support an important role for angiogenesis in GCTs, suggesting that antiangiogenic treatment might be a good alternative.

Phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of plitidepsin as a 1-hour weekly intravenous infusion in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Purpose: Plitidepsin, given as a 1-hour weekly i.v. infusion for 3 consecutive weeks during a 4-week treatment cycle, was investigated in patients with solid tumors to determine the maximum tolerated dose and the recommended dose (RD) using this administration schedule.

Antiangiogenic effect of gemcitabine following metronomic administration in a pancreas cancer model.

Gemcitabine shows a marked antitumor effect as a result of its cytotoxic action toward proliferative cells. In this article, we aim to investigate the potential antitumor and antiangiogenic effect of gemcitabine following a metronomic schedule that involves the regular administration of cytotoxic drugs at doses lower than standard treatment. In vitro results showed that human endothelial cells are more sensitive to gemcitabine (IC(50) 3 nmol/L) than pancreatic tumor cells (IC(50) 20 nmol/L).

The oncology acute toxicity unit (OATU): an outpatient facility for improving the management of chemotherapy toxicity.

Objective: To provide an outpatient facility to improve the management of chemotherapy toxicity in cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: We set up an oncology acute toxicity unit (OATU) to improve toxicity management. A telephone helpline was the initial contact which filters out inappropriate non-toxicity-related events.