An open-label, multicenter, randomized phase Ib/II study of eribulin mesylate administered in combination with pemetrexed versus pemetrexed alone as second-line therapy in patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: New treatment options are needed for second-line therapy in patients with NSCLC.

Patients And Methods: This was a phase Ib/II study in patients with nonsquamous NSCLC in whom 1 previous platinum-based chemotherapy regimen had failed. Fifteen patients were enrolled in a dose escalation of eribulin mesylate in combination with pemetrexed (E+P).

Cardiovascular safety monitoring during oncology drug development and therapy.

Assessments of cardiac and cardiovascular toxicity are prominent components of drug safety endeavors during drug development and clinical practice. Oncologic drugs bring several challenges to both domains. First, during drug development, it is necessary to adapt the ICH E14 "Thorough QT/QTc Study" because the cytotoxic nature of many oncologics precludes their being administered to healthy individuals.

The effect of difluoromethylornithine on decreasing prostate size and polyamines in men: results of a year-long phase IIb randomized placebo-controlled chemoprevention trial.

Background: Prostate cancer is a major health issue, and prevention of prostate cancer and/or its progression will yield benefits for men. Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) is an antiproliferative agent, inhibiting ornithine decarboxylase, the first enzyme in the polyamine pathway, and has been studied as a therapeutic and chemopreventive agent. The prostate has high levels of tissue polyamines and has shown sensitivity to DFMO both in vitro and in vivo.

Lycopene in cancer prevention and treatment.

Dietary intake of lycopene is inversely associated with the risk of many cancers. Preclinical studies show that lycopene has potent in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects, suggesting potential preventive and therapeutic roles for the compound. However, clinical trials with lycopene have only recently been started, and available clinical data preclude firm conclusions with regard to its use in cancer prevention and treatment.

Design and progress of a trial of selenium to prevent prostate cancer among men with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.

High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) is generally regarded as a premalignant lesion that progresses toward prostate cancer. In light of the significant sequelae of prostate cancer treatment, prevention is desirable, and men with HGPIN would be suitable, high-risk subjects. There is in vitro, in vivo, epidemiologic, and human experimental evidence that selenium supplementation may protect against prostate cancer.

Effect of an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor on actin remodeling in an in vitro bladder cancer carcinogenesis model.

Alteration of actin remodeling is a marker of malignant-associated field defect and a potential surrogate biomarker for chemoprevention trials. We tested erlotinib, a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), on actin remodeling in a bladder carcinogenic model consisting of untransformed HUC-PC cells and transformed MC-T11 cells, both derived from the same normal human urothelial clone immortalized by SV40. Erlotinib had a selective growth inhibitory and actin remodeling effect on MC-T11 cells over HUC-PC cells, as examined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and immunofluorescence labeling with laser scan cytometer analysis, respectively.

Flutamide in men with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia: a randomized, placebo-controlled chemoprevention trial.

High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) has been identified as a premalignant change in the prostate that indicates increased risk of the subsequent development of prostate adenocarcinoma. Prior studies have suggested that androgen deprivation therapy causes a regression of HGPIN. We therefore conducted a chemoprevention trial assessing the efficacy of flutamide in reducing the rate of prostate adenocarcinoma development in men with HGPIN.

Changes in serum proteomic patterns by presurgical alpha-tocopherol and L-selenomethionine supplementation in prostate cancer.

Background: Evidence of the chemopreventive effects of the dietary antioxidants alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and l-selenomethionine (selenium) comes from secondary analysis of two phase III clinical trials that found treatment with these antioxidants reduced the incidence of prostate cancer. To determine the effects of selenium and vitamin E in blood and prostate tissue, we undertook a preoperative feasibility study complementary to the currently ongoing Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial.

Methods: Forty-eight patients with clinically localized prostate cancer enrolled on this 2 x 2 factorial design study were randomized to take selenium, vitamin E, both, or placebo for 3 to 6 weeks before prostatectomy.

Antiandrogen, vaccine and combination therapy in patients with nonmetastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer.

Purpose: There is no current standard treatment for patients with prostate cancer who have received hormonal therapy but have an increasing prostate specific antigen (PSA) without radiographic evidence of metastasis. This trial was designed to analyze toxicity, immunogenicity and time to treatment failure using vaccine, antiandrogen therapy or their sequential use.

Materials And Methods: A total of 42 patients were randomized to receive vaccine vs antiandrogen therapy with nilutamide.

Prolonged response to nilutamide in a patient with stage D0.5 prostate cancer who previously failed androgen deprivation therapy.

There is currently no standard therapy for patients with prostate cancer who have progressive rise in PSA levels despite treatment with hormonal ablation and antiandrogen withdrawal (stage D0.5). One potential treatment option is the use of a different androgen receptor antagonist (ARA), such as nilutamide.

A pilot surrogate end point biomarker trial of perillyl alcohol in breast neoplasia.

Purpose: Efficient strategies to screen promising agents in early phase development are essential for rapid progress in breast cancer chemoprevention. We report our experience with the natural compound perillyl alcohol (POH) administered in a short-term surrogate end point biomarker (SEB) protocol, using the "window" between diagnostic and definitive surgery.

Experimental Design: Eligible patients included those with a diagnosis of atypical ductal hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ, lobular carcinoma in situ, or invasive carcinoma (<3 cm in size) that required further surgery.

Evidence-based medical perspectives: the evolving role of PSA for early detection, monitoring of treatment response, and as a surrogate end point of efficacy for interventions in men with different clinical risk states for the prevention and progression of prostate cancer.

Following FDA approval and introduction into the clinic in the mid-1980s, PSA testing has become arguably the most versatile serum tumor marker in urologic oncology with clinical use for early detection (screening) of prostate cancer (PC), risk stratification for clinical staging, prognosis, intermediate biomarker for monitoring tumor recurrence, and more recently as an intermediate biomarker for assessing therapeutic response to antiandrogens, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. PSA now routinely guides health care providers for the clinical management of PC over a wide range of clinical risk states for men at risk of PC, after local definitive therapy and after systemic therapy to prevent progression to metastatic bone disease, and to palliate men with hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). To further assess the evidence that supports these clinical applications, this commentary reviews and critically evaluates the emerging body of new data focusing on several recently published seminal articles by D'Amico et al and Thompson et al, the new National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2004 recommendations for starting PSA testing at the age of 40 years old, the latest results from 2 phase 3 randomized, controlled trials of taxane-based regimens showing improved survival for men with HRPC, and the recent US FDA Public Workshop on Clinical Trial Endpoints in Prostate Cancer that helped to distill and synthesize the current state of the art and the progress toward validation of PSA metrics (eg, PSA velocity) as a surrogate end point (SE) for treatment efficacy with taxane-based regimens.

Prostate cancer chemoprevention agent development: the National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Prevention portfolio.

Purpose: We describe the current National Cancer Institute chemoprevention agent development program and provide a summary of the intermediate end points used.

Materials And Methods: The National Cancer Institute is currently sponsoring a wide range of studies of promising chemoprevention agents in a variety of informative cohorts, eg high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, positive family history of cancer, increased prostate specific antigen with negative biopsies, prostate cancer followed expectantly, prostate cancer awaiting definitive therapy and the general population. The rationale for each agent under investigation is derived from epidemiological observations, prostate cancer treatment trials, secondary analyses of large cancer prevention studies, an understanding of cancer biology and prostate carcinogenesis, and/or experimental animal models.

Phase I pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis of unconjugated soy isoflavones administered to individuals with cancer.

Preclinical studies suggest that the isoflavone genistein may have prostate cancer chemopreventive activity. Genistein has been shown to alter cellular levels of protein-tyrosine phosphorylation and is present at high levels in soy. This study was designed to measure the pharmacokinetic parameters of two different preparations of unconjugated soy isoflavones, PTI G-2535 and PTI G-4660 (which contain 43% and 90% genistein, respectively), in human subjects with cancer, to evaluate toxicity and obtain pilot data on in vivo effects on protein-tyrosine phosphorylation.

Evolving strategies for prostate cancer chemoprevention trials.

Prostate cancer chemoprevention (CP) can be defined as the use of natural and synthetic agents that inhibit, reverse or regress precancer and delay progression to invasive cancer. During the past two decades several CP strategies have evolved. The first generation of CP trials tested the efficacy of antioxidants and vitamins including B-carotene, vitamin A, retinol, 13 cis retinoic acid, vitamins E, C and selenium.

Chemoprevention of prostate cancer: current status and future directions.

Prostate cancer chemoprevention can be described as the administration of natural products and pharmaceutical agents that inhibit one or more steps in the natural history of prostatic carcinogenesis. The principle components of the chemoprevention strategy are closely connected to this natural history and include: (a) agents and their molecular targets; (b) strategic intermediate endpoint biomarkers (IEBs) and their critical pathways; (c) cohorts identified by genetic and acquired risk factors and (d) efficient designs that combine these elements into a cohesive clinical trial. The primary goal is to find effective noncytotoxic agents that modulate the promotion and progression from normal epithelium to dysplasia to high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) to locally invasive cancer and metastatic disease.