Phase II study of gemcitabine plus docetaxel as second-line treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a single institution study.

Objective: The combinations of cisplatin-pemetrexed and cisplatin-gemcitabine are considered the standard systemic therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), which is a rapidly progressive tumor. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and clinical benefit of the gemcitabine plus docetaxel regimen in the second-line treatment of this disease.

Patients And Methods: A total of 37 patients with MPM were treated with the combination of docetaxel (80 mg/m) and gemcitabine (1000 mg/m) on day 1 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.

Administration of cisplatin in three patients with carboplatin hypersensitivity: is skin testing useful?

Carboplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent approved in the first-line setting of numerous malignancies. Hypersensitivity to carboplatin has been reported in up to 44% of patients receiving this antineoplastic agent, usually occurring after several courses of treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of skin tests in ruling out cross-reaction to cisplatin to continue platinum-based chemotherapy in patients who are responsive to these agents.

Bevacizumab may be active in myelofibrosis.

A case of a 69-year-old woman with myelofibrosis presenting with non-small cell lung cancer was reported at Sotiria General Hospital in Athens. She was administered bevacizumab infusions biweekly and a great decrease in the number of her white blood cells was observed. Such low levels of white blood cells had never been reached in the past, when she was receiving hydroxyurea.

The role of angiogenesis in solid tumours: an overview.

Angiogenesis is the physiological process of the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones. Multiple molecules regulate angiogenesis, such as the vascular endothelial growth factor, angiopoietins, the fibroblast growth factor, the platelet-derived growth factor and the transforming growth factor-beta. Angiogenesis plays an important role in the growth, progression and metastasis of a tumour.