Multidisciplinary interventions in a specialist Drug Development Unit to improve family history documentation and onward referral of patients with advanced cancer to cancer genetics services.

Background: Molecular aberrations in cancer may represent therapeutic targets, and, if arising from the germline, may impact further cancer risk management in patients and their blood relatives. Annually, 600-700 patients are referred for consideration of experimental drug trials in the Drug Development Unit (DDU) in our institution. A proportion of patients may merit germline genetic testing because of suspicious personal/family history or findings of tumour-based testing.

A phase I study of a new nucleoside analogue, OSI-7836, using two administration schedules in patients with advanced solid malignancies.

Purpose: To investigate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic profile of the novel nucleoside analogue OSI-7836 in patients with advanced solid malignancies.

Experimental Design: OSI-7836 was initially given as a 60-minute i.v.

Effects of impaired renal function on the pharmacokinetics of raltitrexed (Tomudex ZD1694).

This open-label, non-randomized, parallel-group trial investigated the pharmacokinetics of raltitrexed (Tomudex, formerly ZD1694) after a single intravenous dose of 3.0 mg m(-2), comparing eight cancer patients with mild to moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance 25-65 ml min(-1)) with eight cancer patients with normal renal function (creatinine clearance >65 ml min(-1)). The primary end points were area under the plasma raltitrexed concentration-time curve from the start of the infusion to the last determined concentration (AUC(0-tldc)) and AUC to infinity (AUC(0-infinity)); secondary end points were peak concentrations of raltitrexed (Cmax) and elimination half-life (t(1/2gamma)).