Bowel perforation associated with robust response to BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy for -mutant melanoma: a case report.

Combination BRAF/MEK inhibition has shown improved response rates and longer progression-free and overall survival for patients with -mutant metastatic melanoma. A 63-year-old female with widely metastatic V600E-mutant melanoma was treated with dabrafenib/trametinib. Ten weeks into therapy, she was treated conservatively for a partial bowel obstruction involving a lesion in the distal ileum.

Vinorelbine and gemcitabine as second- or third-line therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Objectives: Pemetrexed-cisplatin is the only FDA-approved regimen for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), and the impact on survival is modest. No drugs have been shown to improve survival as second-line therapy, yet vinorelbine and gemcitabine are prescribed based on the results of small phase II trials. To augment the existing limited data, we examined our institutional experience with vinorelbine and gemcitabine in patients with previously treated MPM.

Harnessing technology to improve clinical trials: study of real-time informatics to collect data, toxicities, image response assessments, and patient-reported outcomes in a phase II clinical trial.

Purpose: In clinical trials, traditional monitoring methods, paper documentation, and outdated collection systems lead to inaccuracies of study information and inefficiencies in the process. Integrated electronic systems offer an opportunity to collect data in real time.

Patients And Methods: We created a computer software system to collect 13 patient-reported symptomatic adverse events and patient-reported Karnofsky performance status, semi-automated RECIST measurements, and laboratory data, and we made this information available to investigators in real time at the point of care during a phase II lung cancer trial.

Maintained sensitivity to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in EGFR-mutant lung cancer recurring after adjuvant erlotinib or gefitinib.

Purpose: Given the unprecedented efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in advanced EGFR-mutant lung cancer, adjuvant TKI therapy is an appealing strategy. However, there are conflicting findings regarding the potential benefit of adjuvant EGFR-TKI in patients with lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. To better understand these results, we studied the natural history of lung cancers which recurred despite adjuvant TKI.