PRODIGY: A Phase III Study of Neoadjuvant Docetaxel, Oxaliplatin, and S-1 Plus Surgery and Adjuvant S-1 Versus Surgery and Adjuvant S-1 for Resectable Advanced Gastric Cancer.

Purpose: Adjuvant chemotherapy after D2 gastrectomy is standard for resectable locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) in Asia. Based on positive findings for perioperative chemotherapy in European phase III studies, the phase III PRODIGY study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01515748) investigated whether neoadjuvant docetaxel, oxaliplatin, and S-1 (DOS) followed by surgery and adjuvant S-1 could improve outcomes versus standard treatment in Korean patients with resectable LAGC.

The incidence of venous thromboembolism is not lowin Korean patients with advanced pancreatic cancer [corrected].

Background: Pancreatic cancer is among the most common malignancies associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Asian patients are known to have a lower incidence of VTE compared to Caucasian patients. However, few studies have investigated the incidence of VTE in Asian patients with pancreatic cancer.

Phase II study of palliative S-1 in combination with cisplatin as second-line chemotherapy for gemcitabine-refractory pancreatic cancer patients.

In this study, we examined the efficacy and toxicity of S-1 with cisplatin as a second-line palliative chemotherapy for gemcitabine-refractory pancreatic cancer patients. Patients who had been previously treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as palliative first-line chemotherapy received S-1/cisplatin [body surface area (BSA) <1.25 m(2), S-1 40 mg/day; BSA ≤1.

Clinical and cost effectiveness of bevacizumab + FOLFIRI combination versus FOLFIRI alone as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in South Korea.

Background: Bevacizumab has been extensively investigated in combination with various standard chemotherapies in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, a comparison to irinotecan + infusional 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (FOLFIRI) is lacking.

Objective: To explore clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding bevacizumab to a regimen of FOLFIRI for the first-line treatment of mCRC in the Republic of Korea by conducting an indirect treatment comparison.

Pathophysiological role of hormones and cytokines in cancer cachexia.

We investigated the role of fasting hormones and pro-inflammatory cytokines in cancer patients. Hormones (ghrelin, adiponectin, and leptin) and cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-6) were measured by ELISA or RIA in lung cancer and colorectal cancer patients before the administration of cancer therapy, and measurements were repeated every 2 months for 6 months. From June 2006 to August 2008, 42 patients (19 with colorectal cancer and 23 with lung cancer) were enrolled.

Clinical outcome of gastric cancer patients with bone marrow metastases.

Purpose: The prognosis of gastric cancer patients with bone marrow metastases is extremely poor. The current study was conducted to evaluate the clinical outcomes of advanced gastric cancer patients with bone marrow metastases.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 26 advanced gastric cancer patients with bone marrow metastases who were treated at Soonchunhyang University Hospital between September 1986 and February 2009.

Efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin, 5-Fluorouracil, and folinic Acid combination chemotherapy as first-line treatment in metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer.

Purpose: We retrospectively determined the efficacy and safety of the combination of oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and folinic acid (FA) as first-line chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2006 and August 2009, 39 patients with histologically-confirmed, metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer underwent chemotherapy, and the results were retrospectively investigated. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of oxaliplatin (100 mg/m(2)) and FA (200 mg/m(2); 2-hour infusion), then 5-FU (2,400 mg/m(2); 46-hour continuous infusion) every 2 weeks.

Phase II Clinical Trial of Genexol® (Paclitaxel) and Carboplatin for Patients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: This phase II clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the activity and safety of a combination treatment of paclitaxel (Genexol®) plus carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Materials And Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve patients having histologically confirmed advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled. Genexol® was administered at 225 mg/m(2) intravenous (IV) infusion over 3 hours, followed by carboplatin (area under the concentration-time curve=6) IV on day 1 every 3 weeks.

Safety and effectiveness of central venous catheterization in patients with cancer: prospective observational study.

This study investigated the safety and effectiveness of each type of central venous catheters (CVC) in patients with cancer. We prospectively enrolled patients with cancer who underwent catheterization involving a subclavian venous catheter (SVC), peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC), or chemo-port (CP) in our department. From March 2007 to March 2009, 116 patients underwent 179 episodes of catheterization.

A case of type B lactic acidosis in acute leukemia.

Type B lactic acidosis is a rare condition in patients with solid tumors or hematological malignancies. Although there have been several theories to explain its mechanism, the exact cause of lactic acidosis remains to be discovered. Lactic acidosis is usually related to increased tumor burden in patients with malignancy.

Mixed testicular germ cell tumor presenting as metastatic pure choriocarcinoma involving multiple lung metastases that was effectively treated with high-dose chemotherapy.

Choriocarcinoma in the testis is very rare, and it represents less than 1% (0.3%) of all the testicular germ cell tumors. It is a particularly aggressive variant of non-seminoma tumor, which is characterized by a high serum beta-HCG level and multiple lung metastases.

Epidermal growth factor receptor intron 1 CA dinucleotide repeat polymorphism and survival of advanced gastric cancer patients treated with cetuximab plus modified FOLFOX6.

Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The present study investigated the association between germline genetic polymorphisms and the treatment outcome of cetuximab plus modified leucovovin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX)6 chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 38 patients enrolled in a phase II study of cetuximab plus modified FOLFOX6 were analyzed for 16 polymorphisms in eight genes (EGFR, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFA), thymidylate synthase, excision repair cross-complementation group 1, Xeroderma pigmentosum group D, and fragment c gamma receptors (FCGR)2A and 3A).

GnRH agonist therapy in a patient with recurrent ovarian granulosa cell tumors.

A 65-yr-old woman presented 17 yr status post-hysterectomy with bilateral ovarian salpingo-oophorectomy, attributable to ovarian cancer. She was admitted to our hospital, with multiple cystic liver masses and multiple large seeded masses in her abdomen and pelvic cavity. Histological examination of the pelvic masses demonstrated granulosa cell tumors.

Adenocarcinoma has an excellent outcome with pemetrexed treatment in Korean patients: a prospective, multicenter trial.

Objective: This prospective multicenter study conducted by the Korean Cancer Study Group evaluated the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed in Korean patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had prior chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC in whom prior chemotherapy failed received pemetrexed 500 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation until disease progression or the development of intolerable toxicity. Eighty-one patients were enrolled.

A phase II study of gemcitabine in combination with oxaliplatin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with inoperable biliary tract cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy as first-line therapy in patients with inoperable biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Methods: The treatment of this non-randomized phase II study consisted of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) intravenously (i.v.

Sulindac enhances arsenic trioxide-mediated apoptosis by inhibition of NF-kappaB in HCT116 colon cancer cells.

To study whether the apoptotic effect of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on colon cancer cells could be enhanced by the addition of sulindac, HCT116 cells were treated with As2O3 (1, 5, 10 microM) and sulindac (0.5 mM), either alone or in combination. As2O3 alone slightly inhibited the growth of HCT116 cells, whereas the combination of As2O3 and sulindac reduced cell growth by 30-40%.

Solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma of the liver without systemic monoclonal gammopathy.

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the liver is a very rare tumor. Although a few cases of extramedullary plasmacytoma of the liver have been reported, we could not find any report on truly localized extramedullary plasmacytoma of the liver in the literature. The patient was a 63-yr-old man who exhibited a solitary liver mass on dynamic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Co-transplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells promotes human CD34+ cells engraftment in a dose-dependent fashion in NOD/SCID mice.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have recently been identified and characterized in humans. Moreover, MSC secrete cytokines that can support hematopoietic progenitor growth. In the present study, we evaluated whether the efficacy of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is improved by their co-transplantation with MSC, and whether this is positively correlated with the dose of infused MSCs.

Phase II study of docetaxel and cisplatin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer.

Purpose: Palliative chemotherapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer has been shown to have a survival benefit. Docetaxel monotherapy has achieved appreciable results for treating gastric cancer. We investigated the clinical efficacy and feasibility of a docetaxel and cisplatin combination regimen for patients suffering with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer.

Phase II trial of gemcitabine combined with cisplatin in patients with inoperable biliary tract carcinomas.

Objectives: The aim of this phase II study was to evaluate the response rate to gemcitabine combined with cisplatin in patients with locally advanced, metastatic or recurrent biliary tract cancer who had received no prior chemotherapy.

Methods: The treatment consisted of cisplatin 70 mg/m(2) in intravenous infusion followed by gemcitabine 1,250 mg/m(2) in 30-min intravenous infusion on days 1 and 8, repeated every 3 weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, patient's refusal or up to 8 cycles.

Results: Thirty-nine patients with advanced biliary cancer were enrolled between March 2003 and August 2003.

Successful eradication of relapsed primary effusion lymphoma with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in a patient seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a recently recognized disease that occurs most often in immunosuppressed patients, either with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or in the posttransplantation setting, and it occasionally occurs in nonimmunosuppressed patients. Patients present with lymphomatous effusions in serous cavities--pleura, pericardium, or peritoneum--without any identifiable tumor mass. PEL rarely responds to systemic chemotherapy, and the prognosis is poor, with a median survival time of less than 6 months for most cohorts.

A phase II study of irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for treatment in patients with previously untreated advanced colorectal cancer.

Purpose: We prospectively conducted a non-randomized phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination irinotecan, leucovorin (LV) and 5-fluorouracil (FU) as a first-line regimen for treating patients with previously untreated advanced colorectal cancer (CRC).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-six previously untreated patients with advanced, recurrent or metastatic CRC were enrolled in this study. The patients received either irinotecan 180 mg/m(2) on day 1 with LV bolus of 200 mg/m(2) and FU bolus of 400 mg/m(2), and this was followed by FU continuous infusion of 600 mg/m(2) on day 1 and day 2 (the FOLFIRI regimen), or they were treated with LV bolus of 400 mg/m(2) and FU bolus of 400 mg/m(2) followed by FU continuous infusion of 2,400 mg/m(2) for 46 hours (the simplified FOLFIRI regimen), and these treatments were repeated every 2 weeks until disease progression.

Randomized, multi-center phase II trial of docetaxel plus cisplatin versus etoposide plus cisplatin as the first-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: We prospectively conducted a multi-center, open-label, randomized phase II trial to compare the efficacy and safety of docetaxel plus cisplatin (DC) and etoposide plus cisplatin (EC) for treating advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials And Methods: Seventy-eight previously untreated patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic NSCLC were enrolled in this study. The patients received cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) on day 1 and either docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) on day 1 or etoposide 100 mg/m(2) on days 1 to 3 in the DC or EC arm, respectively, every 3 weeks.

Docetaxel plus epirubicin as first-line chemotherapy in MBC (KCSG 01-10-05): phase II trial and the predictive values of circulating HER2 extracellular domain and vascular endothelial growth factor.

The anthracyclines and taxanes are considered to be the most active drugs in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We conducted a multicenter phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the docetaxel plus epirubicin combination chemotherapy as first-line treatment in MBC and performed a prospective assessment of the predictive values of circulating HER2 extracellular domain (ECD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) and epirubicin 75 mg/m(2) were given intravenously every 3 weeks.