Management of regorafenib-related toxicities: a review.

Regorafenib (Stivarga, BAY 73-4506; Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany) is an oral multikinase inhibitor that targets the angiogenic tumor microenvironment and oncogenic kinases including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), VEGFR1, VEGFR3, fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), RAF, KIT, RET and BRAF. Its antiangiogenic effect is greater than that of its related drug, sorafenib. Regorafenib has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in patients who have failed treatment with fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan based chemotherapy, an anti-VEGF therapy and, if KRAS wild type, an anti-EGFR therapy.

Positron emission tomography imaging of pancreatic cancer.

Positron emission tomography (PET) using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is increasingly used for the staging of solid malignancies, including lung and esophagus. However, controversy still exists in relation to the application of PET in pancreatic cancer. The authors review seven studies (Abstracts #183, #189, #190, #254, #357, #375, #378) presented at the 2014 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium and discuss on the role of PET in this disease.

Highlights on novel imaging methods of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. Since the majority of patients present with incurable metastatic disease, novel imaging methods are needed to identify pancreatic cancer and assess response to therapy. Research presented at the 2013 American Society of Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting provided insight into potential imaging methods.

Decreased incidence of NSF in patients on dialysis after changing gadolinium contrast-enhanced MRI protocols.

Purpose: To retrospectively determine the incidence of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients on dialysis administered either a lower dose high-relaxivity linear gadolinium-chelate, gadobenate dimeglumine (MultiHance, MH), compared to a standard dose linear gadolinium chelate, gadodiamide (Omniscan, OM).

Materials And Methods: This study was Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant and Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved. As per institution standardized contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols, patients on dialysis were imaged using either MH, between 2/2007 to 9/2008, or OM between 10/2003 and 1/2007.

On improving temporal and spatial resolution of 3D contrast-enhanced body MR angiography with parallel imaging.

Use of a parallel imaging technique to improve temporal and spatial resolution at three-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography was investigated. Thirty experiments were performed in five groups of healthy subjects. In groups 1-3, the technique was used to improve imaging speed by a factor of two or four while maintaining spatial resolution.

Low-density pheochromocytoma on CT: a mimicker of adrenal adenoma.

Objective: Attenuation values on CT of less than 10 H are considered characteristic of adrenal adenomas. Adrenal pheochromocytomas can infrequently contain fat that could result in low attenuation on CT. The purpose of our study was to determine if pheochromocytomas could be confused with adenomas by virtue of their attenuation values on unenhanced CT.