Dual blockade of PI3K and MEK in combination with radiation in head and neck cancer.

Background And Purpose: In this study we have combined fractionated radiation treatment (RT) with two molecular targeted agents active against key deregulated signaling pathways in head and neck cancer.

Materials And Methods: We used two molecularly characterized, low passage HNSCC cell lines of differing biological characteristics to study the effects of binimetinib and buparlisib in combination with radiation and .

Results: Buparlisib was active against both cell lines whereas binimetinib was more toxic to UT-SCC-14.

Antitumor activity of the dual PI3K/MTOR inhibitor, PF-04691502, in combination with radiation in head and neck cancer.

Background And Purpose: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains a clinical challenge where new treatments are required to supplement the current-standard-of care of concurrent chemoradiation. The PI3K/AKT/MTOR pathway has been identified from several next generation DNA sequencing studies to be commonly altered and activated in HNSCC.

Material And Methods: In this study we investigated the activity of PF-04691502, an orally active ATP-competitive, dual inhibitor of PI3K and mTOR, in combination with a clinically relevant fractionated radiation treatment in two contrasting, well characterized, low passage HNSCC models.

Combined CD44, c-MET, and EGFR expression in p16-positive and p16-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Purpose/objective(s): To examine the association between CD44 and c-MET expression in relation to p16 and EGFR in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Materials/methods: Immunohistochemical staining of CD44, p16, EGFR, and c-MET was performed on 105 locally advanced HNSCC patients treated with chemoradiation. CD44 expression was correlated with c-MET, EGFR, and p16, locoregional control (LRC), distant metastases (DM), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Image-guided radiation therapy for prostate cancer: A computed tomography-based assessment of fiducial marker migration between placement and 7 days.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine whether clinically significant fiducial marker migration occurs immediately after prostatic implantation.

Methods And Materials: One hundred patients with transperineal (n = 39) or transrectal (n = 61) placement of 3 gold fiducial markers underwent computed tomography scans on day 0 (after placement) and day 7 (at radiation planning). Each marker was marked as a point of interest in a treatment planning system.

Combined-modality therapy for rectal cancer: analysis of potential differences in disease presentation, treatment adherence, and treatment outcome according to race.

Objectives: Population-based studies suggest African Americans (AAs) with rectal cancer have a worse overall outcome compared with non-AAs. This relationship was explored in a cohort of rectal cancer patients treated with preoperative chemoradiation therapy (CRT) and surgery at 2 academic cancer centers.

Methods: A total of 146 patients (26 AA, 120 non-AA) underwent treatment with curative intent.

Proliferating macrophages associated with high grade, hormone receptor negative breast cancer and poor clinical outcome.

Macrophages, a key cell in the inflammatory cascade, have been associated with poor prognosis in cancers, including breast cancer. In this study, we investigated the relationship of a subset of macrophages-proliferating macrophages (promacs)-with clinico-pathologic characteristics of breast cancer, including tumor size, grade, stage, lymph node metastases, hormone receptor status, subtype, as well as early recurrence, and survival. This study included a discovery and validation set that was conducted at two institutions and laboratories (University of California, San Francisco and University of Chicago) using two independent cohorts of patients with breast cancer.

Statin use and risk of prostate cancer recurrence in men treated with radiation therapy.

Purpose: There has been growing interest in the potential anticancer activity of statins based on preclinical evidence of their antiproliferative, proapoptotic, and radiosensitizing properties. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether statin use is associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: In total, 691 men with prostate adenocarcinoma treated with curative-intent RT between 1988 and 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.