Clinical outcomes and prognostic factors in recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer patients treated with chemotherapy plus cetuximab as first-line therapy in a real-world setting.

Aim: The aims of the study are to evaluate the clinical outcomes of first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and cetuximab in patients with relapsing/metastatic head and neck cancer (RM HNC) and to identify predictors of treatment response.

Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, longitudinal, real-world study involving 6 oncology centres in Italy. All consecutive patients with RM HNC treated between January 2007 and December 2016 with a first-line therapy consisting of a platinum-based chemotherapy regimen plus cetuximab were included.

Clinical efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: Pancreatic carcinoma is the neoplasia with the major mortality, and main standard treatments in this cancer increase survival but do not lead to complete recovery of the patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) in Italian patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (MPC).

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 80 patients.

The comparison of outcomes from tyrosine kinase inhibitor monotherapy in second- or third-line for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with wild-type or unknown EGFR status.

Background: Second-line treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients includes monotherapy with a third-generation cytotoxic drug (CT) or a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). These options are the actual standard for EGFR wild-type (WT) status, as patients with EGFR mutations achieve greater benefit by the use of TKI in first-line treatment. Some clinical trials and meta-analyses investigated the comparison between CT and TKI in second-line, but data are conflicting.

Capecitabine in combination with oxaliplatin as first-line therapy for advanced gastric cancer: a case report.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwilde. The five-year survival for stage IV gastric cancer is around 5-10% in Western countries. Advanced gastric cancer is sensitive to numerous agents, but there is no generally accepted standard regimen.

[EBV reactivation in a patient undergoing chemotherapy for invasive thymoma].

Over the last few years evidence has emerged to indicate the involvement of herpes viruses in several infectious complications observed in patients undergoing antiblastic chemotherapy. We present a case of bilateral parotiditis due to EBV reactivation in a patient who had received chemotherapy because of an invasive thymoma. In October 2006, a 53-year-old man with pulmonary and pleural metastases owing to an invasive thymoma, was started on chemotherapy with cisplatin, adriamycin and cyclophosphamide.

Renal cancer treatment: a review of the literature.

Renal carcinoma represents about 3% of all adult tumors, with an estimate of 31,900 new cases diagnosed in 2003 in the United States. In the early phase of its natural history, renal cancer is potentially curable by surgery, but if the disease presents any signs of metastasis, the chances of survival are remote, even though anecdotal cases characterized by long survival have been reported. In fact, the treatment of metastatic renal cancer remains unsatisfactory.

A randomized, multicenter prospective trial assessing long-acting release octreotide pamoate plus tamoxifen as a first line therapy for advanced breast carcinoma.

Background: Long-acting release octreotide pamoate (OP-LAR) is a synthetic octapeptide that can be administered monthly and whose activity is similar to that of endogenous somatostatin. In vitro and in vivo data suggest that OP-LAR may act as a growth inhibitor or a modulator of growth stimulatory peptides. The potential mechanisms of action of somatostatin analogues in breast carcinoma include the suppression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (a putative tumor growth factor) and the binding to the somatostatin receptors expressed by breast carcinoma cells in order to induce apoptosis.