Phase II randomized trial of carboplatin and gemcitabine with or without dexamethasone pre-treatment in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Pre-clinical and early-phase clinical studies have demonstrated that dexamethasone (DEX) administration prior to chemotherapy reduces toxicity and enhances efficacy in the treatment of cancer. We undertook a randomized, phase II multi-institutional trial to evaluate these effects in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: Patients were treated with carboplatin on day 1 and gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 every 21 days, for up to 6 cycles.

Dramatic response to panitumumab and bevacizumab in metastatic gallbladder carcinoma.

This letter reports on a dramatic response to panitumumab and bevacizumab in a patient with widespread metastatic gall bladder carcinoma.

Retreatment with bortezomib alone or in combination for patients with multiple myeloma following an initial response to bortezomib.

This clinical trial was conducted to determine the safety and efficacy of bortezomib retreatment in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who had previously responded to bortezomib. Patients with progressive MM who had previously tolerated bortezomib as a single agent or in combination with other drugs, with a minimum of partial response (PR; >or=50% M-protein reduction) for >or=4 months, who had not received intervening MM therapy, were retreated with bortezomib (days 1, 4, 8, and 11 of a 21-day cycle) with a starting dose being the dose at which the patient ended the initial treatment. Patients were allowed to receive bortezomib on retreatment in combination with dexamethasone, thalidomide, or doxorubicin.

Hormone replacement therapy and survival in lung cancer in postmenopausal women in a rural population.

Background: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may play a role in the development of lung cancer and subsequent survival. Results from studies exploring these issues are inconsistent. A retrospective study in a rural population was conducted to determine whether a history of HRT use is associated with survival of postmenopausal women with lung cancer.