Outcome of posthepatectomy-missing colorectal liver metastases after complete response to chemotherapy: impact of adjuvant intra-arterial hepatic oxaliplatin.

Background: Dramatic responses to chemotherapy are occurring more and more frequently in patients with multiple colorectal liver metastases (LMs), leading to resection. In a few patients, some LMs vanish on imaging studies, remain undetected during hepatectomy, and are left in place, which defines the "missing LMs." The aim of our study was to assess the long-term outcome of such "missing LMs.

Pulmonary and extrapulmonary poorly differentiated large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas: diagnostic and prognostic features.

Background: Poorly differentiated large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC) comprise a rare and still scarcely known subgroup of neuroendocrine tumors. The objective of this study was to investigate the epidemiology, clinical presentation, prognostic factors, and molecular pathways of patients with poorly differentiated LCNEC.

Methods: Forty-one patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of poorly differentiated LCNEC according to the criteria of the most recent World Health Organization classification of neuroendocrine tumors of the lung entered the study.

Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma is clearly evolving. Recent studies have provided the first evidence in more than a decade that combining gemcitabine with another systemic agent can improve outcome over that achieved with standard gemcitabine monotherapy in patients with advanced disease. Particularly promising are the gemcitabine/capecitabine (Gem-Cap) combination, which showed a significant survival benefit over single-agent gemcitabine in a large phase III study; gemcitabine/oxaliplatin combinations, some of which use a modulated gemcitabine infusion schedule; and gemcitabine-based combinations with targeted therapies, based on a significant survival benefit achieved with gemcitabine plus the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor erlotinib in the phase III setting, as well as encouraging phase II results with cetuximab and bevacizumab.

Sentinel lymph nodes of colorectal carcinoma: reappraisal of 123 cases.

Aims: Results concerning the usefulness of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in colorectal carcinoma have been discordant. The SLN technique may be used to guide surgical resection (lymph mapping), restrict the lymph node analysis solely to the SLN (accuracy) and upgrade tumor staging when micrometastases are specifically detected in the SLN.

Methods: The blue dye injection technique was used.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of first-line chemotherapies in metastatic colorectal cancer. Results of the Fédération Francophone de Cancérologie Digestive (FFCD) 9601 randomized trial.

Background: The De Gramont regimen (or high-dose LV5FU2, HD-LV5FU2) is considered a standard treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and the costs of three regimens as compared to HD-LV5FU2: raltitrexed (R), LV5FU2 with a lower dose of folinic acid (LD-LV5FU2), and weekly infusional 5FU (WI-FU).

Methods: An economic analysis was performed prospectively as part of a randomized trial comparing first-line chemotherapy regimens in 294 patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer.

Gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): results of a phase II study.

Background: New systemic therapies are needed to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In a Phase II trial involving previously untreated patients with advanced HCC, the more favorable schedule from a previous pilot study was evaluated.

Methods: Thirty-four patients with previously untreated advanced-stage HCC were prospectively enrolled.

Safety of cisplatin combined with continuous 5-FU versus bolus 5-FU and leucovorin, in metastatic gastrointestinal cancer (FFCD 9404 randomised trial).

Background: The objective of this phase III study was to compare the safety and efficacy of FLP (modulation of 5-FU (Fluorouracil) by folinic acid or leucovorin (LV) and cisplatin vs. FP (5-FU combined with Cisplatin) as a first line chemotherapy in advanced oesophageal, gastric and pancreatic cancer.

Patients And Methods: 232 patients with measurable lesions were randomised to receive at the first cycle either FP (arm A: 5-FU 800 mg/m2/d in continuous infusion 5 days and cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on day 1 or 2), or FLP (arm B: LV, 100 mg/m2/d in bolus 5 days, followed by 5-FU 350 mg/m2/d in 1 h infusion 5 days and cisplatin 100 mg/m2 on day 1 or 2).

Peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal origin.

Purpose: Complete resection of macroscopic colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC), followed by intraoperative intraperitoneal chemohyperthermia (IPCH) to treat residual microscopic disease achieves cure in some patients. We report long-term results concerning survival of a phase II study using oxaliplatin (LOHP).

Patients And Methods: From June 1998 to December 2003, thirty patients with macroscopic colorectal PC underwent complete resection of PC followed by IPCH with LOHP performed in an open abdominal cavity.

Preoperative radiotherapy with or without concurrent fluorouracil and leucovorin in T3-4 rectal cancers: results of FFCD 9203.

Purpose: In 1992, preoperative radiotherapy was considered in France as the standard treatment for T3-4 rectal cancers. The present randomized trial compares preoperative radiotherapy with chemoradiotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Patients were eligible if they presented a resectable T3-4, Nx, M0 rectal adenocarcinoma accessible to digital rectal examination.

Midterm local efficacy and survival after radiofrequency ablation of lung tumors with minimum follow-up of 1 year: prospective evaluation.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the local efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) ablation of lung neoplasms, with a minimum follow-up period of 1 year.

Materials And Methods: Sixty patients (34 men and 26 women; age range, 27-81 years; mean age, 66 years) with 100 lung tumors gave written informed consent to be enrolled in a prospective study that was approved by the local ethics committee. There were five or fewer tumors per patient, each with a diameter of less than 40 mm (mean +/- standard deviation, 17 mm +/- 10).

Feasibility of preoperative combined radiation therapy and chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin in potentially resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma: The French SFRO-FFCD 97-04 Phase II trial.

Purpose: More than 80% of patients who undergo a potentially curative resection for pancreatic cancer develop local or distant recurrence. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy might offer potential benefits regarding local and systemic control and survival. This multi-institutional Phase II trial explored the feasibility of preoperative chemoradiation in this situation.

Thyroid metastases from colorectal cancer: the Institut Gustave Roussy experience.

The prevalence of thyroid metastases in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is unknown. We retrieved the records of all patients with CRC and pathologically proved thyroid metastasis for the period 1993-2004. Among 5,862 consecutive patients with CRC, 6 (0.

Usefulness of guiding needles for radiofrequency ablative treatment of liver tumors.

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of a guiding needle for radiofrequency (RF) ablative treatment of liver tumors.

Methods: Forty-two patients, 38-78 years old (57 +/- 17), with 42 liver tumors (18 HCC, 24 colon cancer metastases) underwent RF ablation using a 14-gauge guiding needle with an external insulated sheath in which any 18-gauge or smaller needle can be placed, including a specially designed 3.5 cm LeVeen RF electrode.

Oxaliplatin combined with 5-FU in second line treatment of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Results of a phase II trial.

Background: The efficacy and benefit of second-line chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma has never been demonstrated although it is regularly used.

Patients And Methods: A randomized phase II study evaluating oxaliplatin alone (OXA), infusional 5-fluorouracil alone (5-FU) and an oxaliplatin/infusional 5-FU combination (OXFU) in untreated advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been conducted. In this trial, a second-line treatment with the OXFU regimen (OXA 130 mg/m2 2-h intravenous (i.

KRAS mutation status is predictive of response to cetuximab therapy in colorectal cancer.

The anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) cetuximab has been proven to be efficient in metastatic colorectal cancer. The molecular mechanisms underlying the clinical response to this drug remain unknown. Genetic alterations of the intracellular effectors involved in EGFR-related signaling pathways may have an effect on response to this targeted therapy.

[Rectal cancer Information dedicated to cancer patients and relatives].

In response to the evolution of the information-seeking behaviour of patients and concerns from health professionals regarding cancer patient information, the French National Federation of Comprehensive Cancer Centres (FNCLCC) introduced, in 1998, an information and education program dedicated to patients and relatives, the SOR SAVOIR PATIENT program. The methodology of this program adheres to established quality criteria regarding the elaboration of patient information. Cancer patient information, developed in this program, is based on clinical practice guidelines produced by the FNCLCC and the twenty French regional cancer centres, the National League against Cancer, The National Cancer Institute, the French Hospital Federation, the National Oncology Federation of Regional and University Hospitals, the French Oncology Federation of General Hospitals, many learned societies, as well as an active participation of patients, former patients and caregivers.

Irinotecan as first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a multicenter phase II study with dose adjustment according to baseline serum bilirubin level.

This study assessed the clinical activity and safety of irinotecan (CPT-11) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using dose adjustment according to baseline serum bilirubin level. Patients with advanced HCC received CPT-11 at a dose of 350 mg/m(2) when total bilirubin level was 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (group A), or 200 mg/m(2) when total bilirubin level was between 1.

[Therapeutic strategies using VEGF inhibitors in colorectal cancer].

Angiogenesis, a complex, coordinated process resulting in the assembly and maturation of new blood vessels, is critical for the growth of tumors. Several lines of evidence argue for angiogenesis inhibition in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) : 1) angiogenesis (as measured by microvessel count), and the expression of pro-angiogenesis factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the key regulator of normal and pathological angiogenesis, have been reported to correlate with advanced disease and a worse prognosis ; 2) the expression of VEGF has been shown to correlate with RAS mutations, alterations in the APC-WNT signaling pathway, and overexpression of cyclo-oxygenase-2, which all are frequent in CRC ; 3) bevacizumab, a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, is a potent inhibitor of tumor growth of various CRC cell lines in murine xenografts ; 4) the addition of bevacizumab to systemic chemotherapy has been shown to be significantly superior to chemotherapy alone in terms of objective tumor response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with metastatic CRC, in the frontline, and more recently in the second-line setting, without worsening of chemotherapy-related toxicity. However, several potential specific adverse events, such as thrombosis, hemorrhages, proteinuria, arterial hypertension, and bowel perforations have been described.

Docetaxel plus gemcitabine or docetaxel plus cisplatin in advanced pancreatic carcinoma: randomized phase II study 40984 of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Gastrointestinal Group.

Purpose: To define the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel plus gemcitabine or docetaxel plus cisplatin for advanced pancreatic carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: Chemotherapy-naive patients with measurable disease and WHO performance status less than 2 were randomly assigned to receive 21-day cycles of gemcitabine 800 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 plus docetaxel 85 mg/m2 on day 8 (arm A) or docetaxel 75 mg/m2 on day 1 plus cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 (arm B). Primary end points were tumor response and rate of febrile neutropenia grade.