A phase I clinical study of immunotherapy for advanced colorectal cancers using carcinoembryonic antigen-pulsed dendritic cells mixed with tetanus toxoid and subsequent IL-2 treatment.

Background: To better evaluate and improve the efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer immunotherapy, we conducted a clinical study of patients with advanced colorectal cancer using carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-pulsed DCs mixed with tetanus toxoid and subsequent interleukin-2 treatment. The tetanus toxoid in the vaccine preparation serves as an adjuvant and provides a non-tumor specific immune response to enhance vaccine efficacy. The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate the toxicity of this treatment, (2) observe the clinical responses of vaccinated patients, and (3) investigate the immune responses of patients against CEA before and after treatment.

The Clinical Efficacy and Cardiotoxicity of Fixed-Dose Monthly Trastuzumab in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Single Institutional Analysis.

Objective: Trastuzumab-containing treatment regimens have been shown to improve survival outcomes in HER2-positive breast cancer (BC). It is much easier to infuse a fixed one-vial dose to every patient on a regular schedule in the general clinical setting. The aims of this study were evaluating the efficacy of a 440 mg fixed-dose of trastuzumab administered on a monthly infusion schedule, and the risk factors for cardiac events.

Prognostic implications of the expression of erbB2, topoisomerase II alpha and thymidylate synthase in metastatic gastric cancer after fluorouracil-based therapy.

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to ascertain the expression of erbB2 in relation to topoisomerase II alpha (T2 alpha) and thymidylate synthase (TS) markers in 30 consecutive metastatic gastric cancer patients with a specimen available for study.

Methods: All patients had been entered on consecutive chemotherapeutic clinical trials that were all 5-fluorouracil based. The specimens were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization to ascertain erbB2 and T2 alpha gene amplification, and by immunohistochemical staining for T2 alpha and TS protein expression.

A phase I study of weekly docetaxel, 24-hour infusion of high-dose fluorouracil/leucovorin and cisplatin in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Objectives: To determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of both docetaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) when administered weekly in a regimen of docetaxel, 5-FU/leucovorin and cisplatin (DFLP) for 2 consecutive weeks every 3 weeks.

Patients And Methods: A total of 31 patients with chemo-naive, advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach were enrolled in the study. Cisplatin and leucovorin dosages were fixed throughout the study at 30 and 300 mg/m2, respectively.