Radiation-induced angiosarcoma of the breast: retrospective analysis at a regional treatment centre.

Background: Radiation-induced angiosarcoma (RIA) is an uncommon but morbid complication after radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of breast RIA patients at Cambridge University Hospital (CUH), a regional treatment centre in the East of England.

Results: 22 patients were identified between 2010 and 2022.

Lorlatinib for the treatment of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour with TPM4-ALK fusion following failure of entrectinib.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) is a rare malignancy with limited responses to corticosteroids and chemotherapy. About half of cases have activating rearrangements in the ALK gene which could be targeted with ALK inhibitors. A 40-year-old man presented with a large right lung mass and nodal, trapezius and cerebral metastases.

Pazopanib, a promising option for the treatment of aggressive fibromatosis.

Desmoid tumour/aggressive fibromatosis (DT/AF) is a rare soft-tissue neoplasm that is locally aggressive but does not metastasize. There is no standard systemic treatment for symptomatic patients, although a number of agents are used. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors have recently been reported to show useful activity.

Trends in the characteristics, dose-limiting toxicities and efficacy of phase I oncology trials: The Cancer Research UK experience.

Introduction: Phase I oncology trials have evolved over the years, and these changes could have implications for future studies and patients.

Methods: Adult trials sponsored by Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development between 1995 and 2013 were analysed. Forty-nine trials were divided into two groups based on the starting date for recruitment: 1995-2003 (24 trials, n = 603) and 2004-2013 (25 trials, n = 750) for comparative purposes.

A Comprehensive Single Institutional Review of 2 Years in a Designated Fast-Track Sarcoma Diagnostic Clinic Linked with a Sarcoma Specialist Advisory Group: Meeting the Target but Failing the Task?

Background. National guidelines prompted the implementation of a designated two-week wait referral pathway to facilitate the early diagnosis of sarcomas, to improve treatment outcomes. Methods.

Safety and Efficacy of Modified FOLFIRINOX for Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A UK Single-Centre Experience.

Objectives: The combination of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), irinotecan and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) is considered the first-line chemotherapy for fit patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) but carries an unfavourable adverse event (AE) profile. We retrospectively evaluated the tolerability and efficacy of a modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) regimen: intravenous oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2, irinotecan 135 mg/m2, folinic acid 400 mg/m2 and 5-FU infusion 2,400 mg/m2 over 46 h, with routine subcutaneous filgrastim on a 14-day cycle.

Methods: Records of 18 patients with advanced PDAC who received treatment with mFOLFIRINOX were reviewed.

Presentation and management of pulmonary artery sarcoma.

Background: Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) is a rare but aggressive malignancy that leads to heart failure and death without treatment. Here we reviewed the presentation and management of patients treated at a national centre for pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) and its associated hospital in Cambridge, UK.

Methods: Details of PAS patients treated at Papworth and Addenbrooke's Hospitals between 2000 and 2014 were reviewed.

Desmoplastic small round cell tumour: characteristics and prognostic factors of 41 patients and review of the literature.

Background: Desmoplastic small round cell tumour (DSRCT) is a rare but frequently fatal sarcoma, and many of its characteristics still require further clarification.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed 41 patients treated at or referred to two regional referral centres in the UK between 1991 and 2012. A review of the current literature was also performed.

Tivozanib for the treatment of metastatic renal cancer.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Drugs such as sorafenib, sunitinib and pazopanib act on the VEGF receptor pathway, but they can also inhibit other kinases, resulting in off-target toxicities. Tivozanib was developed due to its potency and selectivity against VEGF receptors 1-3.

Prolonged response of relapsed high grade serous ovarian carcinoma to the oral angiokinase inhibitor nintedanib in a patient with a germline BRCA1 mutation.

► Nintedanib is an anti-angiogenic agent that has demonstrated activity in relapsed ovarian cancer. ► Our patient had prolonged response to nintedanib, allowing her to have potentially curative surgery 6 years after her diagnosis. ► The relationship between angiogenesis and BRCA mutation is worth exploring in ovarian cancer.

Modification of the early gene enhancer-promoter improves the oncolytic potency of adenovirus 11.

Oncolytic adenoviruses based on serotype 5 (Ad5) have several shortcomings, including the downregulation of its receptor in cancer cells, high prevalence of neutralizing antibodies and hepatotoxicity. Another adenoviral serotype, Ad11, could overcome these obstacles. Here, we show that human cancer cell lines express higher levels of the Ad11 receptor CD46, resulting in much better infectivity than Ad5.

PRSS3 promotes tumour growth and metastasis of human pancreatic cancer.

Background And Aims: Metastasis accounts for the poor outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer. We recently discovered PRSS3 to be over-expressed in metastatic human pancreatic cancer cells. This study aimed to elucidate the role of PRSS3 in the growth and metastasis of human pancreatic cancer.

Oncolytic Viruses for Cancer Therapy: Overcoming the Obstacles.

Targeted therapy of cancer using oncolytic viruses has generated much interest over the past few years in the light of the limited efficacy and side effects of standard cancer therapeutics for advanced disease. In 2006, the world witnessed the first government-approved oncolytic virus for the treatment of head and neck cancer. It has been known for many years that viruses have the ability to replicate in and lyse cancer cells.

Biological approaches to therapy of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease and notoriously difficult to treat. Only a small proportion is curative by surgical resection, whilst standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced disease has only modest effect with substantial toxicity. Clearly there is a need for the continual development of novel therapeutic agents to improve the current situation.