Skin metastases in non-small cell lung cancer.

Skin metastasis associated with lung cancer is an uncommon manifestation and usually portends an aggressive clinical course. It can be either synchronous with the underlying malignancy or be the sign of recurrence. Solitary metastases can be treated with surgical resection or radiation therapy, but multiple lesions are usually treated with palliative chemotherapy.

Plasma microRNAs as novel biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer.

A diagnosis of lung cancer at its early stages is vital for improving the survival rate of patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a family of 19- to 25-nucleotide non-coding small RNAs, are frequently dysregulated in lung cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of circulating miRNAs for early detection of lung cancer.

Documenting the natural history of patients with resected stage II adenocarcinoma of the colon after random assignment to adjuvant treatment with edrecolomab or observation: results from CALGB 9581.

Purpose: We conducted a randomized trial comparing adjuvant treatment with edrecolomab versus observation in patients with resected, low-risk, stage II colon cancer. This study also prospectively studied patient- and tumor-specific markers of treatment outcome.

Patients And Methods: After surgical resection, patients with stage II colon cancer were randomly assigned to either five infusions of edrecolomab at 28-day intervals or observation without adjuvant therapy.

Scar carcinoma of the lung: a historical perspective.

Lung scar carcinoma (SC) was first described by Friedrich in 1939 as a type of lung cancer that originates around peripheral scars in the lung. Scarring in the lung can result from a variety of infections, injuries, and lung diseases. Scars can also be due to repeated episodes of tumor necrosis and healing.

History of small-cell lung cancer.

The history of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the more fascinating stories of medicine, a story of hope and disappointment that characterizes it as 1 of the most elusive cancers. Its history can be divided into 3 intervals. The first interval encompassed the 30 years after the initial reports from Bernard in 1926 during which SCLC was characterized.

Sex differences in outcome with bevacizumab therapy: analysis of patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with or without bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Trial 4599.

Introduction: E4599 compared carboplatin and paclitaxel with (PCB) or without (PC) bevacizumab in patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Bevacizumab improved overall survival. However, an unplanned subset analysis did not show a survival benefit for females treated with bevacizumab.

Fludarabine followed by alemtuzumab consolidation for previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia: final report of Cancer and Leukemia Group B study 19901.

The humanized anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody alemtuzumab is an effective therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We examined the impact of alemtuzumab treatment after initial fludarabine treatment for feasibility and safety. Patients (N = 85) with previously untreated symptomatic CLL received fludarabine (25 mg/m(2)/day) for 5 days every 4 weeks for four cycles followed by 2 months of observation.

Cognitive and psychological factors associated with early posttreatment functional outcomes in breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer survivors experience cognitive difficulties following chemotherapy, yet the effects of these deficits on functional outcomes have not been systematically evaluated. This study assessed the relationships between postchemotherapy cognitive difficulties and functional outcomes. Forty-six women with breast cancer were seen at 1-month postchemotherapy; data were collected on cognitive functioning, psychological variables, and physical symptoms.

Neuropsychological functioning and quality of life during the first year after completing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Objective: Research has documented modest cognitive difficulties among women treated for breast cancer. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of these subtle cognitive changes on quality of life after treatment.

Methods: Data are presented from women breast cancer patients who completed neuropsychological tests and questionnaires regarding quality of life 6 and 12 months post-chemotherapy (n's=39 and 33).

Trends in the outcomes for patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer: An analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.

We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to examine the outcomes of patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) over time and to determine if any trends were present with respect to the publication of significant clinical trials. We assembled a cohort of 6271 patients aged 21 years and older with LS-SCLC diagnosed from 1983 to 1998 and followed through 2005. Potential covariates included patient age at diagnosis, sex, race, year of diagnosis, laterality, tumor size, and location (upper lobe, middle lobe, lower lobe, or main bronchus).

Comparison of outcomes for elderly patients treated with weekly paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin versus the standard 3-weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin for advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes between elderly (aged > or = 70 years) patients treated with paclitaxel on a weekly basis and with carboplatin (every 4 weeks) versus the standard 3-weekly regimen of carboplatin and paclitaxel for first-line therapy of advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Methods: Of the 444 patients enrolled, 136 (31%) were aged > or = 70 years. Seventy-two patients were randomized to the weekly schedule (paclitaxel, 100 mg/m(2) weekly for 3 of 4 weeks; carboplatin, area under the curve [AUC] = 6 mg/mL.

Randomized, phase III study of weekly paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin versus standard every-3-weeks administration of carboplatin and paclitaxel for patients with previously untreated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and safety of weekly paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin administered every 4 weeks to the standard regimen of paclitaxel and carboplatin administered every 3 weeks for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: Four hundred forty-four patients with previously untreated stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were randomly assigned to either arm 1 (n = 223), paclitaxel 100 mg/m(2) weekly for 3 of 4 weeks with carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) = 6 mg/mL x min on day 1 of each 4 week cycle, or arm 2 (n = 221), paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2) and carboplatin AUC = 6 on day 1 of each 3-week cycle. After four cycles of therapy, patients in both treatment arms were eligible to continue weekly paclitaxel (70 mg/m(2), 3 of 4 weeks) as maintenance therapy until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression.

Lung Cancer Symptom Scale outcomes in relation to standard efficacy measures: an analysis of the phase III study of pemetrexed versus docetaxel in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) require care that emphasizes symptom palliation in addition to extending survival. The low response rates and minimal survival gains observed in second-line studies underscore the need to assess treatment efficacy with symptomatic end points.

Methods: To characterize the relationship between patient-reported health-related quality of life outcomes and efficacy end points (tumor response, overall survival [OS], progression-free survival [PFS]), retrospective analyses were performed on Lung Cancer Symptom Scale (LCSS) data (n = 488) from the phase III study of pemetrexed (500 mg/m2 once every 3 weeks) versus docetaxel (75 mg/m2 once every 3 weeks) in advanced NSCLC.

Epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer.

Clinical and experimental work supports the view that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a relevant target for cancer therapy. Expression of EGFR is exaggerated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and activation of EGFR appears to have an important role in the growth and differentiation of this and other types of cancers. EGFR-targeted therapeutic approaches have shown clinical activity in advanced human cancers for which chemotherapy over the last 30 years has sustained a mere palliative role at best.

Small cell lung cancer: have we made any progress over the last 25 years?

Twenty-five years ago, small cell lung cancer was widely considered to be the next cancer added to the list of "curable cancers." This article attempts to summarize the progress made toward that goal since then. Clinical trials have provided landmarks in the therapy of limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC).

A randomized trial comparing immediate versus delayed treatment of anemia with once-weekly epoetin alfa in patients with non-small cell lung cancer scheduled to receive first-line chemotherapy.

Introduction: This study evaluated the safety/efficacy of once-weekly (QW) epoetin alfa measured by quality of life (QOL), hemoglobin (Hb), transfusion incidence, tumor response, and survival in patients with chemotherapy-naïve, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Stage IIIB/IV NSCLC patients with Hb > or = 11 to < 15 g/dl scheduled for at least 8 weeks of first-line chemotherapy were randomized to subcutaneously receive 40,000 U of epoetin alfa QW at chemotherapy initiation (immediate) or no epoetin alfa unless Hb decreased to < or = 10 g/dl (delayed). The primary efficacy variable was change in QOL for immediate versus delayed intervention.

Treatment of elderly non-small cell lung cancer patients with three different schedules of weekly paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin: subanalysis of a randomized trial.

Background: Administration of paclitaxel on a weekly schedule in combination with carboplatin is associated with a lower incidence of neuropathy and myelosuppression. The authors conducted subgroup analysis of their randomized phase II study of three different schedules of weekly paclitaxel with carboplatin to determine the efficacy of each regimen in elderly patients (aged > or = 70 years) with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Patients with advanced NSCLC were randomized to one of three different weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin regimens.

A phase III study of surgical resection and paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy with or without adjuvant radiation therapy for resected stage III non-small-cell lung cancer: Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9734.

Purpose: Patients with completely resected stage IIIA (N2) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are at substantial risk for locoregional and systemic recurrence. Adjuvant chemotherapy has recently improved overall control for these patients. We added adjuvant chemotherapy to control presumed micrometastatic disease and then randomized patients to receive radiation therapy (RT) or observation to determine the benefit of local radiation consolidation.

Paclitaxel-carboplatin alone or with bevacizumab for non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, has been shown to benefit patients with a variety of cancers.

Methods: Between July 2001 and April 2004, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) conducted a randomized study in which 878 patients with recurrent or advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (stage IIIB or IV) were assigned to chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin alone (444) or paclitaxel and carboplatin plus bevacizumab (434). Chemotherapy was administered every 3 weeks for six cycles, and bevacizumab was administered every 3 weeks until disease progression was evident or toxic effects were intolerable.

The cancer and leukemia group B respiratory committee.

The Cancer and Leukemia Group B Respiratory Committee has a 30-year track record of clinical investigation in patients with small-cell lung cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and mesothelioma. The most widely recognized contributions of the Committee include the early confirmation of the role of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in LD-SCLC, the effect of combination chemotherapy followed by radiation in stage III NSCLC, the introduction of third-generation agents into concurrent chemoradiation for stage III disease, the prospective demonstration of the benefit of treating older (70 years old) and poorer performance status (performance status = 2) patients with first-line combinations for stage IV disease, and the development of the "Herndon prognostic index" to normalize patient characteristics and outcomes in sequential phase II trials of new agents in patients with mesothelioma. Many other contributions have also emerged from the Committee's clinical trials and correlative science programs.

Evaluation of combined (177)Lu-DOTA-8-AOC-BBN (7-14)NH(2) GRP receptor-targeted radiotherapy and chemotherapy in PC-3 human prostate tumor cell xenografted SCID mice.

The focus of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic benefit of combined gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor-targeted radiotherapy (TRT) with chemotherapy, using the PC-3 xenograft severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse model. (177)Lu-DOTA-8-AOC-BBN(7-14)NH(2) is a radiotherapeutic peptide that specifically targets the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor overexpressed on primary and metastatic prostate cancer. The chemotherapeutic agents, docetaxel and estramustine, were administered as single agents or in combination with the receptor-targeted radiotherapeutic agent.